Egypt has a high prevalence of HCV infection which causes hepatic fibrosis. Assessment of the degree of
hepatic fibrosis is essential for decision of antiviral therapy. Untill now, liver biopsy is the gold standard for
assessment of hepatic fibrosis but it is an invasive procedure. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of
serum autotaxin level as a marker of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients in comparison with liver
biopsy.Sixty HCV patients with hepatic fibrosis confirmed with liver biopsy and20 healthy subjects were
inrolled in the current study.Lab assessment included CBC, fasting serum glucose, liver and kidney function
tests, serum AFP, hepatitis markers (HCVAb, HBsAg), PCR for HCV RNA and serum autotaxin (using
sandwich ELISA).Results revealed that serum ATX levels were significantly increased in HCV group versus
control group and were positively correlated with the stage of fibrosis. Serum autotaxin level at cutoff value
(