Profil des biomarqueurs immunologiques, virologiques et biochimiques chez les participants atteints d’hépatopathies chroniques et ceux atteints de carcinome hépatocellulaire : cas de deux hôpitaux de la ville de Yaoundé

Abstract

Background: The search for biomarkers for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major challenge in the identification of new tools capable of being used concomitantly with Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and medical imaging in the diagnosis of HCC. The main objective of this study was to identify relevant immunological, virological and biochemical biomarkers in the diagnosis of HCC in participants with chronic liver disease. Methods: We used evidence-based evidence to determine the association between HBV/HCV infections and HCC development by random effect method. Subsequently, in participants with chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and HCC, we took 5 ml of blood sample where we looked for some virological biomarkers in the plasma (HBsAg, anti-HCV/HCVAg), using immunochromatography and ELISA techniques, then we quantified some immunological biomarkers (12 cytokines) by LUMINEX and some biochemical biomarkers (ALAT, AST and AFP) by enzymatic assay and fluorescence immunochromatography. We determined the diagnostic performance of some of these biomarkers quantified using the ROC curve. All values of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Overall, the meta-analysis confirmed that controls infected by HBV/HCV had a high risk of developing HCC. In our study, participants with HCC had higher ALT, AST and AFP levels compared to participants with chronic liver disease. We also observed significant variations in pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2 and IL-6) and angiogenic growth factor (VEGF) (p<0.0001; p=0.050 and p<0.0001) in the three groups studied. For the diagnosis of HCC, VEGF (Se=80% and Sp=70%), AFP (Se=80%; Sp= 35%) and Il-6 (Se=60%; Sp= 80%), showed better diagnostic performance. Conclusion: The results of this study show the need to combine AFP and medical imaging, IL- 6 and VEGF to hope for early diagnosis of HCC in people with chronic liver disease infected by HBV or HCV.