Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is considered as one of the most serious public health problems worldwide including Egypt. Soluble fibrinogen-like protein 2 (sFGL2) is a well-known immunomodulator that is produced by the T cells and has a strong inhibitory effect on the proliferation of T cells and maturation of dendritic cells (DC). In the current study, serum levels of sFGL2 were assessed utilizing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique among 20 acute HBV-infected patients, 55 chronic HBV-infected patients and 15 healthy individuals. In addition, serum levels of soluble FAS ligand (sFASL), soluble FAS receptor (sFAS) as well as interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were assessed and correlated to the levels of sFGL2. According to our results, serum levels of sFGL2 were significantly higher in the acute HBV-infected patients than in the chronic HBV-infected patients and healthy individuals. On the other hand, the serum levels of sFASL, sFAS and IFN-γ were significantly higher in the chronic than in acute HBV-infected patients. Also, serum sFGL2 levels were negatively correlated with the serum levels of sFASL, sFAS, IFN-γ and albumin as well as hemoglobin concentration. Furthermore, serum sFGL2 levels were positively correlated with the activities of ALT and AST and total bilirubin levels in serum. Thus, the current work highlights the possibility of utilizing serum sFGL2 level as a novel biomarker for the differentiation between acute and chronic Egyptian HBV-infected patients.
Keywords: hepatitis B virus; interferon-γ; sFAS; sFASL; soluble fibrinogen-like protein 2.