High level of serum cholesteryl ester transfer protein in active hepatitis C virus infection

Table 1 Clinical features of patients with active hepatitis C virus infection (active hepatitis C virus group) and of those in whom hepatitis C virus infection was eradicated (eradication group) n (%)

Discrete traits	Active HCV group (n = 55)	Eradication group (n = 55)	P value
Sex			0.254
Male	22 (40)	28 (51)
Female	33 (60)	27 (49)
HCV genotype			0.003
1b	48 (87)	36 (65)
2	7 (13)	19 (35)
Quantitative traits	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD
Age (yr)	66.9 ± 11.2	64.3 ± 12.1	0.200
BMI (kg/m2)	22.5 ± 3.2	22.8 ± 3.4	0.631
AST (IU/L)	53.1 ± 27.5	24.0 ± 7.2	< 0.001
ALT (IU/L)	49.9 ± 37.1	20.0 ± 11.7	< 0.001
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.8 ± 0.3	0.7 ± 0.3	0.242
γ-GTP (IU/L)	50.4 ± 64	27.1 ± 20	0.011
Albumin (g/dL)	3.9 ± 0.4	4.4 ± 0.3	< 0.001
Hb (g/dL)	13.4 ± 1.7	14.2 ± 1.5	0.010
Platelet (104/μL)	15.0 ± 6.3	20.0 ± 17.8	0.050
FBG (mg/dL)	108 ± 32	107 ± 16	0.740
HbA1c (%)	5.4 ± 0.6	6.1 ± 0.5	0.030
Lipid profiles
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	173.6 ± 31	200.5 ± 37.8	< 0.001
Triglyceride (mg/dL)	107.5 ± 52.0	103 ± 53.1	0.712
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	92.1 ± 25.7	117 ± 29.9	< 0.001
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	59.9 ± 17.4	64.9 ± 19.0	0.159
CETP level (μg/mL)	2.84 ± 1.00	2.40 ± 0.69	0.008

There were significant differences in the proportion of patients with HCV G1b infection. There were no significant differences in BMI, FBG levels, and HbA1c levels, whereas AST, ALT, and albumin levels differed significantly. TC and LDL-C levels were significantly lower in the active infection group than in the eradication group, whereas TG and HDL-C levels were similar in the two groups. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; BMI: Body mass index; AST: Aspartate-2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine-2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase; γ-GTP: Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; Hb: Hemoglobin; FBG: Fasting blood glucose; HbA1c: Glycosylated hemoglobin; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; CETP: Cholesterol ester transfer protein; LDL-C: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Table 2 Influence of the hepatitis C virus infection status on the serum cholesterol ester transfer protein level as analyzed by multiple regression analysis

	B	SE	P value
Constant	0.770	0.541	0.157
HCV infection	0.415	0.158	0.010
Age	0.014	0.006	0.042
Female sex	0.391	0.182	0.034
HDL	0.008	0.004	0.099

HCV infection status was an independent factor that significantly influenced the serum cholesterol ester transfer protein level. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HDL: High-density lipoprotein.

Table 3 Comparison of the cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the four major lipoprotein fractions according to hepatitis C virus infection status

Major class	Active HCV group	Eradication group	P value	Active HCV group	Eradication group	P value
	Cholesterol (mg/dL)			Triglyceride (mg/dL)
CM	0.19 ± 0.19	0.19 ± 0.18	0.86	1.21 ± 1.53	1.28 ± 1.31	0.774
VLDL	29.04 ± 12.31	26.12 ± 10.66	0.187	57.66 ± 42.06	65.97 ± 44.18	0.314
LDL	87.94 ± 24.11	117.31 ± 26.91	< 0.001	36.25 ± 15.28	28.14 ± 9.94	0.001
HDL	49.58 ± 15.19	55.19 ± 16.29	0.064	25.9 ± 7.34	17.17 ± 4.82	< 0.001

The cholesterol concentration in LDL-C was significantly lower and HDL-C was marginally lower in the active HCV group, whereas cholesterol concentrations in CM and VLDL were similar between groups. The TG concentrations in LDL-TG and HDL-TG were significantly higher in the active HCV group, whereas TG concentrations in CM and VLDL were similar between groups. HCV: Hepatitis C virus; CM: Chylomicron; VLDL: Very-low-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; TG: Triglyceride.