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Early Increased Ficolin‐2 Concentrations are Associated with Severity of Liver Inflammation and Efficacy of anti‐Viral Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

Ficolin‐2 is a kind of human serum complement lectin with a structure similar to mannan‐binding lectin (MBL), and it has been implicated in innate immunity. Recent studies have shown that complement pathway activation may contribute to hepatitis. However, the relationship between ficolin‐2 and viral hepatitis remains largely elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the dynamics of ficolin‐2 in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Forty nine patients who had not yet received therapy [24 patients with abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (>40 U/L) and 25 patients with normal ALT levels (≤40 U/L)], 28 patients with hepatitis C who received therapy for 2 weeks and 16 patients received therapy for a full month or longer were included in the study. A sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the ficolin‐2 concentrations in all serum samples of patients and 42 healthy donors. We found the concentrations of ficolin‐2 were significantly higher in chronic hepatitis C patients with abnormal ALT values than in chronic hepatitis C patients with normal ALT values and healthy controls. Ficolin‐2 concentrations in chronic hepatitis C patients with abnormal ALT values were positively correlated with ALT levels (*P < 0.05). After therapy, the concentrations of ficolin‐2 decreased and accompany with ALT and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels. Then, we found ficolin‐2 concentrations in rapid viral response (RVR) group decreased significantly (*P < 0.05), while in non‐RVR group, ficolin‐2 decreased slightly (P > 0.05). Our findings suggest that early increased ficolin‐2 is highly correlated with hepatic inflammation and rapid viral response.