Karagiannakis, DimitrisSiakavellas, Spyros I.Ladas, Spiros D.Kaltsa, GaryfalliaVafiadi, IreneGoukos, DimitrisMichopoulos, SpyridonDaikos, George L.Zampeli, EvanthiaVlachogiannakos, JiannisBamias, GiorgosBackground Bacterial translocation (BT) commonly occurs in cirrhosis. Reliable biomarkers for BT are currently lacking. Human beta defensin-1 (hBD-1) is a member of the family of natural antimicrobial peptides produced by epithelial cells and participates in the mucosal defensive mechanisms that prevent BT. The aim of the present study was to examine the local and systemic expression of hBD-1 in patients with cirrhosis.Methods Plasma concentrations of hBD-1 and of soluble CD14 (sCD14) proteins were measured by ELISA in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, and healthy controls. Relative mRNA expression of various natural antimicrobial peptides was determined by real-time PCR in biopsies from the terminal ileum and colon.Results We found significant upregulation of hBD-1 and sCD14 in the peripheral blood of patients with cirrhosis compared to patients with chronic viral hepatitis and healthy controls. The etiology of cirrhosis did not affect the concentration of either protein. The levels of hBD-1 protein correlated significantly with the levels of sCD14 in blood collected from hepatic veins of cirrhotic patients. In contrast, no significant differences were observed in the intestinal mucosal mRNA expression of the Paneth cell specific defensin A5 or hBD-1 between patients with cirrhosis and healthy controls.Conclusions hBD-1 is upregulated in patients with cirrhosis and highly correlates with the lipopolysaccharide-induced protein sCD14. hBD-1 may serve as a biomarker of BT in patients with cirrhosis.Keywords Cirrhosis, bacterial translocation, human beta defensin-1, soluble CD14, natural antimicrobial peptides, biomarkersAnn Gastroenterol 2016; 29 (1): 63-70text/htmlapplication/pdfapplication/mswordimage/jpeghttp://www.annalsgastro.gr/index.php/annalsgastro/article/view/2267engHellenic Society of Gastroenterology1792-74631108-7471Annals of Gastroenterology; Volume 29, No 1 (2016); 63Systemic levels of human β-defensin 1 are elevated in patients with cirrhosisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion2016-01-07Δημοσίευση σε περιοδικόPublication in journalΓαστροεντερολογίαGastroenterologyisi -Gastroenterology & Hepatology covers resources on the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and pathology of the digestive system. This category includes specific resources on the prognosis and treatment of digestive diseases; stomach ulcers; metabolic, genetic, infectious and chemically induced diseases of the liver; colitis; diseases of the pancreas and diseases of the rectum.Επιστημονικό άρθροScientific articleΕλληνική Γαστροεντερολογική ΕταιρίαGreek Aggregator OpenArchives.gr | National Documentation Centre (EKT)other