Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2010 Oct;53(4):608-15.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2010.04.020. Epub 2010 Jun 17.

The novel immunoregulatory molecule FGL2: a potential biomarker for severity of chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Katharina Foerster  1 , Ahmed Helmy, Yi Zhu, Ramzi Khattar, Oyedele A Adeyi, Kit Man Wong, Itay Shalev, David A Clark, Pui-Yuen Wong, Elizabeth J Heathcote, Melville J Phillips, David R Grant, Eberhard L Renner, Gary A Levy, Nazia Selzner
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The novel immunoregulatory molecule FGL2: a potential biomarker for severity of chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Katharina Foerster et al. J Hepatol. 2010 Oct.

Abstract

Background & aims: This report describes the use of a novel sensitive and specific ELISA for the measurement of human fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2/fibroleukin), a novel effector of natural regulatory T (Treg) cells, to predict the course of chronic hepatitis C viral infection (HCV).

Methods: Plasma levels of FGL2 were measured in HCV patients and compared to healthy controls and to patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Results: FGL2 levels were significantly higher in HCV patients (84.3+/-89.1 ng/ml, n=80) compared to healthy controls (36.4+/-21.9 ng/ml, n=30, p<0.001), to a subset of patients who cleared HCV following anti-viral treatment (16.6+/-19.7 ng/ml, n=32, p<0.001), and to patients with inactive alcoholic liver disease (18.8+/-17.4 ng/ml, n=24, p<0.001). Among HCV patients, plasma levels of FGL2 correlated significantly with the stage of fibrosis (p=0.001) and were significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis (164.1+121.8 ng/ml, n=60) compared to non-cirrhotics (57.7+/-52.8 ng/ml, n=20, p=0.001). Genotype 1 patients had significantly higher levels of FGL2 (98.1+/-100.3 ng/ml, n=60) compared to patients with genotype 2/3 (41.5+/-38.6 ng/ml, n=20, p=0.0008). Patients with genotype 2/3 had FGL2 levels similar to healthy controls (41.5+/-38.6 vs. 36.41+/-21.9 ng/ml, p=ns). Infiltrating lymphocytes in liver biopsies of HCV patients were positive for either FGL2 or FoxP3 (a marker of Treg cells) or expressed both markers.

Conclusions: This report documents the development of a sensitive ELISA for measurement of plasma levels of FGL2 an effector Treg cells, which correlates with the severity of HCV infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-