Serum Levels of Endothelial Monocyte-Activating Polypeptide-II in Hepatitis CPatients

Objectives: Endothelial monocyte-activating polypeptide-II (EMAP-II) is a cytokine with pro-inflammatory and immune-suppressive properties. The goal of this study was to assess serum EMAP-II in treated and untreated Hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Furthermore, we determined the relationship between serum EMAP-II levels with the clinic pathological and laboratory parameters in patients with HCV. Methods: 25 control patients (Group I), 25 treated HCV patients (Group II) and 25 newly diagnosed, untreated patients with HCV (Group III) were included in this study. Serum EMAP-II levels were detected by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and HCV RNA was assessed by real time-PCR (RT-PCR). The results were evaluated against clinical and laboratory data. Results: Serum EMAP-II levels were significantly elevated in newly diagnosed, untreated HCV patients compared to treated HCV and control patients (p<0.001). We found that serum EMAP-II levels correlated positively with HCV RNA in untreated HCV patients (p<0.001). While serum albumin and platelet count correlated negatively with serum EMAP-II levels (p<0.001), a positive correlation was observed between EMAP-II and serum bilirubin (p<0.001). Conclusions: Increased serum EMAP-II levels are present in newly diagnosed HCV patients compared to treated HCV and control patients, suggesting EMAP-II as a novel biomarker for HCV diagnosis.