Circulating microparticles as disease-specific biomarkers of severity of inflammation in patients with hepatitis C or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background & Aims Microparticles released into the bloodstream upon activation or apoptosis of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells correlate with inflammation as determined by histologic analysis in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can be differentiated from those with CHC based on activation of distinct sets of immune cells in the liver. Methods We compared profiles of circulating microparticles from patients with NAFL and NASH (n = 67) to those of CHC (n = 42), with healthy individuals (controls) using flow cytometry; the profiles were correlated with inflammation grade and fibrosis stage based on histologic an…