Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates that serum soluble E‐cadherin (sE‐cadherin) serves as an important player in various physiological and pathological processes. However, the crosstalk between serum sE‐cadherin and oxidative stress in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remains to be illustrated. The main purpose of this study is to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of sE‐cadherin in CHB virus infection. Levels of serum sE‐cadherin, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total oxidant activity (TOA), NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), and malondialdehyde (MDA), from 51 patients with hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)‐negative CHB, 54 patients with HBeAg‐positive CHB, and 109 healthy individuals were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. In our study, patients with CHB showed significantly higher serum sE‐cadherin levels than healthy individuals (P < .01). Furthermore, we also found that the serum sE‐cadherin levels were significantly negatively correlated with TAC, antioxidant enzymes (GSH and SOD) in patients with CHB, and that serum sE‐cadherin concentrations were significantly positively correlated with liver enzyme markers (alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase) and oxidative markers (TOA, NOX2, and MDA) in patients with CHB. Therefore, serum sE‐cadherin may act as a new candidate biomarker for reflecting inflammation and oxidative stress status in the development and progression of hepatitis B virus infection.