Serum hepatitis C virus titers in the progression of type C chronic liver disease with special emphasis on patients with type 1b infection

The correlation of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) titers to the progression of type C chronic liver disease remains controversial. We have investigated the relationship between serum HCV titers and different histological stages of chronic liver disease, including chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), chronic active hepatitis and/or liver cirrhosis (CAH/LC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 94 well-characterized Taiwanese patients. The mean age of patients in the HCC group was significantly older than those in the CPH and CAH/LC groups, whereas those in the CAH/LC group had the highest mean serum alanine aminotransferase level among the three groups. The prevalence of HCV type 1b increased with the progression of histological severity, and the mean serum titer of the HCC group was significantly higher than that of CPH group. The difference of virus titers between the HCC group and those of the other two groups became more significant when only type lb virus-infected patients were analyzed. In conclusion, elevated serum HCV titers are more frequently observed among Taiwanese patients with advanced type C chronic liver disease, an association not related to the high prevalence of HCV type 1b infection in such patients.