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Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B and C infections remain major causes of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis worldwide. This study aims to correlate histopathological features with molecular markers of fibrogenesis in liver biopsy samples from infected patients. Sirius Red staining quantified fibrosis, while RT- qPCR assessed the expression of TGF-β1, COL1A1, and α-SMA. Our findings reveal that increased expression of fibrogenic genes correlates with fibrosis stage and clinical outcomes. These data provide valuable insights for the identification of molecular targets for antifibrotic therapy and highlight the importance of early intervention in chronic viral hepatitis.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sadiq Salam H. Al-Salih, Nada Khazal K. Hindi, Fadhilah N. Alobaidan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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References
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References
Su TH, Kao JH, Liu CJ. Molecular mechanism and treatment of viral hepatitis-related liver fibrosis. Int J Mol Sci. 2014;15(6):10578–604. doi:10.3390/ijms150610578
Bility MT, Nio K, Li F, McGivern DR, Lemon SM, Feeney ER, et al. Chronic hepatitis C infection–induced liver fibrogenesis is associated with M2 macrophage activation. Sci Rep. 2016;6:39520. doi:10.1038/srep39520
Martí-Bonmatí L, Delgado F. MR imaging in liver cirrhosis: classical and new approaches. Insights Imaging. 2010;1(4):233–44. doi:10.1007/s13244-010-0034-7
Ijaz B, Ahmad W, Das T, Shabbiri K, Husnain T, Hassan S. HCV infection causes cirrhosis in human by step-wise regulation of host genes involved in cellular functioning and defense during fibrosis: identification of biomarkers. Genes Dis. 2019;6(3):304–17. doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2019.04.007
Liedtke C, Luedde T, Sauerbruch T, Scholten D, Streetz K, Tacke F, et al. Experimental liver fibrosis research: update on animal models, legal issues and translational aspects. Fibrogenesis Tissue Repair. 2013;6(1):19. doi:10.1186/1755-1536-6-19
McDuffie D, Barr D, Helm M, Baumert T, Agarwal A, Thomas E. Physiomimetic in vitro human models for viral infection in the liver. Semin Liver Dis. 2023;43(1):31–49. doi:10.1055/a-1981-5944
Fontana RJ, Lok AS. Noninvasive monitoring of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 2002;36(S1):S57–64. doi:10.1053/jhep.2002.36800
Wu Q, Zhao X, You H. [Retracted article] Characteristics of liver fibrosis with different etiologies using a fully quantitative fibrosis assessment tool. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2017;50(6):e5234. doi: https://org.doi./10.1590/1414-431X20175234.
Masuzaki R, Kanda T, Sasaki R, Matsumoto N, Ogawa M, Matsuoka S, et al. Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis: current and future clinical and molecular perspectives. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21(14):4906. doi: https://org.doi./10.3390/ijms21144906.
Wang Y, Hou JL. Current strategies for quantitating fibrosis in liver biopsy. Chin Med J (Engl). 2015;128(2):252–8. doi: https://org.doi./10.4103/0366-6999.149223.
Mahdinloo S, Kiaie SH, Amiri A, Hemmati S, Valizadeh H, Zakeri-Milani P. Efficient drug and gene delivery to liver fibrosis: rationale, recent advances, and perspectives. Acta Pharm Sin B. 2020;10(7):1279–93. doi: https://org.doi./10.1016/j.apsb.2020.03.007.
Gewehr DM, Giovanini AF, Munhoz SI, Nagashima S, Bertoldi AD, Sobral AC, et al. Software-assisted image analysis for identification and quantification of hepatic sinusoidal dilatation and centrilobular fibrosis. ABCD Arq Bras Cir Dig. 2021;34:e1608. doi: https://org.doi./10.1590/0102-672020210002e1608
Queiroz MA, Amoras ED, Moura TC, da Costa CA, Sousa MS, Lima SS, et al. The SAMHD1 rs6029941 (A/G) polymorphism seems to influence the HTLV-1 proviral load and IFN-alpha levels. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020;10:246. doi: https://org.doi./10.3389/fcimb.2020.00246
Ramachandran S, Ilias Basha H, Sarma NJ, Lin Y, Crippin JS, Chapman WC, et al. Hepatitis C virus induced miR-200c downmodulates FAP-1, a negative regulator of Src signaling and promotes hepatic fibrosis. PLoS One. 2013;8(8):e70744. doi: https://org.doi./10.1371/journal.pone.0070744
Murakami Y, Toyoda H, Tanaka M, Kuroda M, Harada Y, Matsuda F, et al. The progression of liver fibrosis is related with overexpression of the miR-199 and 200 families. PLoS One. 2011;6(1):e16081. doi: https://org.doi./10.1371/journal.pone.0016081
Abdallah RA, Shaban MI, Taie DM, Asaad NY, Badr AH. Relation between immunohistochemical expression of Hippo pathway effectors and chronic hepatitis-induced fibrosis in Egyptian patients. Turk J Pathol. 2020;36(1):48. doi: https://org.doi./10.5146/tjpath.2019.01463
Tache DE, Firu SG, Andrei AM, Predescu A, Purcaru SO, Dobrescu AM, et al. Correlation between TGF-β1 and FSP-1 expression in chronic viral hepatitis: an immunohistochemical study. Curr Health Sci J. 2015;41(2):179. doi:https://org.doi./10.12865/CHSJ.41.02.14