SummaryWe compared Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA

The WFA -M2BP level can be a useful marker for assessing liver histological findings in patients with treatment-naïve CHB, although it has several limitations.

Aim To examine the relationship between the Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac‐2‐binding protein (WFA+‐M2BP) level and histological findings for patients with non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Methods A total of 134 NASH patients (mean age, 51.7 years) were analyzed. We examined the effect of WFA+‐M2BP level on severity of liver fibrosis comparing with other laboratory markers, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB‐4 index, platelet count and hyaluronic acid as serum liver fibrosis markers. Receiver–operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC). Results The WFA+‐M2B P‐value ranged from 0.2 cut‐off index (COI) to 9.6 COI (median, 0.9). The median values in each fibrosis stage were: 0.7 COI in F1, 0.7 COI in F2, 1.2 COI in F3 and 2.4 COI in F4 (P < 0.001). For predicting liver cirrhosis (F4), WFA+‐M2BP level had the AUROC of 0.854 (sensitivity, 69.2%; specificity, 88.4%) and for predicting advanced liver fibrosis (≥F3), WFA+‐M2BP level yielded the second highest AUROC with a level of 0.842 (sensitivity, 73.7%; specificity, 80.2%) and for predicting significant liver fibrosis (≥F2), WFA+‐M2BP level yielded the highest AUROC with a level of 0.663 (sensitivity, 47.2%; specificity, 78.6%) among six liver fibrosis markers. The median values in patients with ballooning scores 1 (n = 58) and 2 (n = 76) were 0.6 and 1.1 COI, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusion Serum WFA+‐M2BP level can be useful for assessing liver histological findings in patients with NASH.

The aims of the present study were to examine the relationship between serum B-cell activating factor belonging to the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) levels and serum interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) levels in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).A total of 80 corticosteroid therapy naive AIH patients were analyzed in this analysis. First, we examined the relationship between pretreatment serum BAFF and IP-10 levels and liver histological findings. Next, we investigated the relationship of pretreatment serum BAFF and IP-10 levels and aspartate aminotransferase value (AST), alanine aminotransferase value, and serum Immunoglobulin G (IgG) level as serum liver inflammation markers.Our study included 14 men and 66 women with the median (range) age of 64 (21–83) years. The serum BAFF levels ranged from 122.5 to 7696.0 pg/mL (median value, 1417.8 pg/mL), whereas the serum IP-10 levels ranged from 142.0 to 4198.7 pg/mL (median value, 640.1 pg/mL). The serum BAFF levels were significantly stratified in each 2 liver inflammation stage. Similarly, the serum IP-10 levels were significantly stratified in each 2 liver inflammation stage. Among 3 serum inflammation markers, AST value had the highest rs value in terms of the relationship with BAFF level (rs = 0.511, P < 0.001) and IP-10 level (rs = 0.626, P < 0.001). In addition, the serum BAFF level significantly correlated with serum IP-10 level (rs = 0.561, P < 0.001). In patients without advanced fibrosis (F3 or more), the serum BAFF level significantly correlated with serum IP-10 level (rs = 0.658, P < 0.001), whereas in patients with advanced fibrosis, the serum BAFF level significantly correlated with serum IP-10 level (rs = 0.542, P < 0.001).In conclusion, both BAFF and IP-10 are useful for predicting the degree of liver inflammation activity in AIH. BAFF and IP-10 may have the common clinical implication for liver inflammation activity for AIH patients.

The VFMAP score accurately predicted HCC in patients with chronic liver disease.