الفهرس 
Antiphosph" ~ "lipid Antibodies and antiphosphlipld syndromeOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Viruses have long been suspected of initiating autoimmune responses and/or diseases, either by
molecular mimicry of self-antigens or by self proteins rendering them antigenic.
Several extrahepatic manifestations have been associated with chronic HCV infection. Several
immunological autoantibodies and /or disorders have been associated with HCV-related chronic
liver disease
.The role of these antibodies on the course of HCV infection and their
clinical significance has not yet been determined. Recently, HCV has been implicated as a cause of
APS, which was defined as a clinical syndrome characterized by venous and arterial thrombosis,
recurrent pregnancy loss, and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies.
In our study, we aimed to detect the incidence of aCL antibodies in patients with chronic liver
disease and correlate its level with clinical features in those patients.
For this purpose sixty patients with chronic liver disease were included in this study. Those
patients were classified into three groups:
group I: included 10 patients with chronic viral hepatitis due to HCV with and without HBV
infection, group II: included 30 patients with liver cirrhosis, group III: included 20 patients
with hepatocellular carcinoma on top of liver cirrhosis. All patients were subjected to the
thorough clinical history and examination with special emphasis on those related to chronic liver
disease, all patients also were subjected to routine laboratory investigations, and ELISA for
detection of anticardiolipin antibodies.
Our study clearly revealed that, aCL antibodies are one of the most common auto antibodies found
in patients with chronic liver disease (mainly in chronic viral hepatitis). The prevalent concept
is that, in the majority of cases, aCL antibodies are non-pathogenic and therefore their routine
determination is not justified. However, in particular patients with special immune reactivity or
with abnormal haemostatic regulation, they may exert a pro-coagulant effect and be involved in the
genesis of thrombotic events. Finally it remains unknown whether aCL antibodies are an
epiphenomenon of HCV infection or whether a cross reactivity exists between aCL antibodies and any
HCV Antigen. Thus, the prevalence of aCL antibodies in our patients that was higher than in the
normal controls had no clinical significance and so, as other autoantibodies described in
conjunction with HCV infection, aCL antibodies seem mostly to be an epiphenomenom.