Clinical Significance of Interleukin 18 in Chronic Liver Disease: Review Article

Wadea, Fady M.; Abdou, Ahmed Elsayed Elbadawy; Abd-El Monem, Doaa M.; Sharafeddin, Mahmoud A.

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2022.258456

Clinical Significance of Interleukin 18 in Chronic Liver Disease: Review Article

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejhm.2022.258456

Abstract

Background: The end stage of chronic liver disease (CLD) is cirrhosis, which is characterised by progressive scarring (fibrosis) of the liver due to chronic liver injury and subsequent loss of liver function. Early diagnosis and prevention of complication of liver cirrhosis is challenging, so Interleukin-18 is one of the surrogate serum indicators being investigated for noninvasive evaluation of liver fibrosis. The interferon-gamma inducing factor IL-18 plays a crucial role in the development of chronic liver disease by promoting inflammation. However, its precise role is unclear due to a paucity of data.
Objective: Assessment of possible correlation between Interleukin 18 and liver cirrhosis.
Methods: Interleukin 18, hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis were all looked for in PubMed, Google scholar, and Science direct. References from relevant literature were also evaluated by the authors, but only the most recent or complete study from January 2000 to May 2020 were included. Due to the lack of sources for translation, documents in languages other than English have been ruled out. Papers that did not fall under the purview of major scientific investigations, such as unpublished manuscripts, oral presentations, conference abstracts, and dissertations, were omitted.
Conclusion: IL-18 plays a pathogenic role in liver cirrhosis as well as portal hypertension development and may represent non-invasive marker for HCV related cirrhosis.

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