Korean J Gastroenterol.  2019 Dec;74(6):341-348. 10.4166/kjg.2019.74.6.341.

Diagnostic Performance of Serum Asialo-α1-acid Glycoprotein for Advanced Liver Fibrosis or Cirrhosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B or Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• Kim SU
• Jeon MY
• Lim TS

• KMID: 2469909
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2019.74.6.341

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
The utility of asialo-α1-acid glycoprotein (AsAGP) for assessing the fibrotic burden is unknown. This study examined the diagnostic performance of the AsAGP level for advanced liver fibrosis or cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
METHODS
From July to December 2018, 48 patients with CHB and 75 with NAFLD were recruited prospectively. Transient elastography was used as the reference standard for liver fibrosis, and the cutoff liver stiffness values were defined as 10.0 kilopascal (kPa) for ≥F3 and 12.0 kPa for F4 in CHB patients, and 9.0 kPa for ≥F3 and 11.8 kPa for F4 in NAFLD patients.
RESULTS
To predict stage ≥F3 and F4 fibrosis, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the AsAGP level in patients with CHB were 0.788 (95% CI 0.647-0.930; p=0.005) and 0.825 (95% CI 0.674-0.976; p=0.004), respectively. The cutoff AsAGP levels in patients with CHB that maximized the sum of the sensitivity and specificity values were 1.31 (sensitivity 100.0%, specificity 52.6%) and 1.55 (sensitivity 75.0%, specificity 80.0%), respectively. In contrast, the AsAGP level was similar regardless of the fibrosis stage in patients with NAFLD (all p>0.05 between the stages).
CONCLUSIONS
The AsAGP level showed acceptable diagnostic accuracy in predicting advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with CHB but not in those with NAFLD. Further studies will be needed to validate the diagnostic performance of the AsAGP level in patients with NALFD.

Keyword

Fibrosis; Hepatitis B; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Liver cirrhosis

MeSH Terms

Elasticity Imaging Techniques
Fibrosis*
Glycoproteins*
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B, Chronic*
Hepatitis, Chronic*
Humans
Liver Cirrhosis*
Liver*
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease*
Prospective Studies
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity
Glycoproteins

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