Value of reelin for assessing hepatic fibrogenesis in a group of Egyptian HCV infected patients.

Background: Development of non-invasive markers that can predict the stages of hepatic fibrosis without resorting to repeated liver biopsies is still an important goal to evaluate the effectiveness of antifibrotic treatment. The present work investigates the value of the assessment of peripheral circulating reelin, in which the liver represents its prime source, as a marker for monitoring hepatic fibrogenesis.

Methods: Seventy-four cases with chronic hepatitis positive for serum HCV RNA and 15 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study.

HCV has transforming potential to retrovirus: an ultrastructure hypothesis.

The present work highlights intracellular viral morphogenesis and virus-host cell interactions in patients proved to be infected with HCV. The material of this study consisted of 28 liver biopsies taken from patients positive for serum HCV-RNA by polymerase chain reaction. Liver biopsies were processed for light and electron microscopic examination.