Background: Chronic viral hepatitis is a major global health problem associated with progressive liver injury and an increased risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The identification of novel biomarkers may improve disease monitoring and diagnostic accuracy. Methods: In this prospective case–control study, a total of 90 participants were included: 20 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB); 20 with chronic hepatitis C (CHC); 20 with HBeAg-negative chronic infection (HCI); and 30 age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls. Serum irisin and nesfatin-1 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Group comparisons were performed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) followed by Scheffé post hoc tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate diagnostic performance. Results: Significant differences were observed among groups in terms of irisin, nesfatin-1, total bilirubin, and platelet counts (p ≤ 0.05). Nesfatin-1 levels were significantly higher in all patient groups compared with healthy controls (p < 0.001). Irisin levels were only significantly lower in the HCI group (p < 0.001). ROC analysis indicated that nesfatin-1 may have the potential to discriminate between infected patients and healthy individuals; however, the generalizability of this finding is limited by the study design and sample size. Conclusions: Nesfatin-1 may represent a potential biomarker for chronic viral hepatitis, whereas alterations in irisin levels may be more specific to the inactive carrier phase.
Senol et al. (2026) studied this question.