Serum fatty acid synthase concentration is increased in patients with hepatitis viral infection and may assist in the prediction of liver steatosis.

Background: Liver steatosis is frequent in patients with chronic hepatitis viral infections. Intracellular fatty acid synthase (FASN) seems to play a substantial role in its pathogenesis. FASN can also be found in circulation and is significantly increased in HIV-infected individuals, especially if they are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Objectives: To assess whether serum FASN concentration is also increased in patients with chronic hepatitis viral infections and its relationship with liver steatosis.

Study Design: Samples and associated data were obtained from stored collections in our institutions from patients with chronic infections with either hepatitis B virus (HBV, cHB, n=60), HCV (cHC, n=81) or co-infection (n=29).

Results: The incidence of liver steatosis was significantly (p<0.001) different among groups (23.7% in cHB, 34.2% in cHC and 69.2% in co-infected). A similar trend was observed for changes in serum ALT [in μKat/L, 1.41 (0.08), 1.62 (0.08) and 1.95 (0.16) respectively; p=0.02] and serum FASN [in ng/mL, 9.44 (1.28), 16.38 (1.93) and 31.47 (4.26) respectively; p<0.001]. Serum FASN concentration was related to the degree of liver steatosis, and was correlated with serum ALT values when the whole group was considered (ρ=0.207; p=0.007).

Conclusions: Serum FASN concentration is significantly increased in patients with chronic hepatitis viral infections and correlated with the degree of liver steatosis. These findings may represent a basis for further studies searching non-invasive biomarkers with either diagnostic or prognostic value.