The Relationship between Inflammatory Marker Levels and Hepatitis C Virus Severity

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Hematology
• Virology

Background:

• Red cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are established biomarkers in various diseases.
• Their role in assessing the severity of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between RDW, PLR, and liver disease severity in patients with chronic HCV.
• To evaluate RDW and PLR as potential predictors of liver cirrhosis in HCV patients.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study included 52 chronic HCV patients, 42 HCV-related cirrhosis patients, and 84 healthy controls.
• Collected hematological, virological, and liver function parameters.
• Analyzed RDW, PLR, RDW-to-platelet (RPR), aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio, AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and FIB-4 scores.

Main Results:

• HCV-related cirrhosis patients exhibited significantly higher RDW, RPR, and 1/PLR compared to chronic HCV patients and controls (P < 0.001).
• Cirrhosis patients also showed significantly higher AAR, APRI, and FIB-4 scores (P < 0.001).
• RDW, RPR, and 1/PLR demonstrated AUCs of 0.791, 0.960, and 0.713, respectively, for predicting cirrhosis. RDW independently predicted cirrhosis.

Conclusions:

• RDW, RPR, and PLR show potential as non-invasive markers for estimating HCV disease severity.
• These hematological indices may aid in identifying patients with advanced liver disease, such as cirrhosis.