The Relationship between the Number of Stem Cells and the Concentration of Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 with Disease Severity in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

<b>Background:</b> The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) is important in tissue repair. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the number of stem cells in the blood and the blood concentration of stromal cell-derived factor 1 with disease severity in cirrhotic patients. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> In this study, 15 patients with cirrhosis and 15 healthy individuals aged 18 to 65 were randomly selected between January 2016 and July 2017. The number of circulating stem cells and SDF-1 levels were compared in the patient and healthy control groups. The correlation between circulating stem cells (CSC) and SDF-1 concentration with disease severity was evaluated. <b>Results:</b> 33% of cirrhotic patients were classified as severity B and 67% as severity C by the Child-Pugh method. The percentage of stem cells and mean SDF-1 concentration in patients with cirrhosis was approximately 2.8 (p < 0.01) and 1.81 (P < 0.01) times higher than healthy individuals, respectively. Patients with a more severe form of the disease had significantly higher concentrations of SDF-1 in peripheral blood than patients with a milder form (p=0.04). <b>Conclusion:</b> The percentage of stem cells and the concentration of SDF-1 in the serum of cirrhotic patients were significantly higher compared with the control group. In addition, there was no significant relationship between the percentage of circulating stem cells and the severity of the disease, whereas a direct relationship between the severity of the disease and the concentration of SDF-1 was observed.