Plasma alpha-tocopherol is negatively correlated with hepatocyte apoptosis in chronic hepatitis B patients.
Hepatocyte apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of liver diseases, while at the same time oxidative stress plays an important role in liver cell damage. This prompted us to evaluate the possible relationship between hepatocyte apoptosis and oxidative stress in patients with chronic hepatitis B. CHB patients were placed in groups A (ALT >40 IU/L) and B (ALT <or=40 IU/L). Healthy controls were considered as group C (all ALT <or=40 IU/L). Serum concentrations of alpha-tocopherol, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined and liver cell apoptosis was evaluated by using terminal deoxynucleotydil transferase-mediated d-UTP biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL). SOD, GSH-Px, and MDA did not differ between groups. alpha-Tocopherol was significantly decreased in groups A (p<0.01) and B (p<0.05) when compared with group C and it was negatively correlated with the apoptosis index (r=-0.575, p<0.01). Only the plasma concentration of alpha-tocopherol rather than the other oxidative stress markers changed significantly in patients with normal alanine aminotransferase levels (ALT <40 IU/L) when compared with healthy controls and correlated significantly with the apoptosis index, suggesting that alpha-tocopherol may be a possible marker to reflect liver cell damage, especially in the absence of serum aminotransferase elevation.