Serum soluble TWEAK levels in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Aim: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease. The exact pathogenesis of NAFLD hasnot been fully elucidated. Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a member of TNF superfamily and it hasbeen implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases including liver inflammation and fibrosis. Current study was conducted toevaluate serum sTWEAK levels in patients with NAFLD.Material and Methods: Seventeen patients with biopsy proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), 22 patients with simplehepatosteatosis and 30 healthy controls were included in the study and serum sTWEAK concentrations were measured usingcommercial ELISA kits.Results: Mean serum sTWEAK concentration was significantly lower in the NASH group when compared to the simple hepatosteatosisgroup and healthy controls (199.6±101.2 pg/mL, 246.1±65.7 pg/mL and 277.6±117.6 pg/mL respectively, p=0.029). ROC analysesfor sTWEAK to differentiate NASH patients from healthy controls and from simple hepatosteatosis revealed that AUC for sTWEAKwas 0.712 (%95 CI, 0.543-0.880). For the specified cut off value, 171.1 pg/mL positive and negative predictive values calculated were64.3% and 85.5% respectively.Conclusion: Serum sTWEAK concentration is decreasedin patients with NASH when compared to patients with simple hepatosteatosisand healthy controls.