Gut Liver.  2021 Jan;15(1):109-116. 10.5009/gnl19282.

Diagnostic Performance of Serum Asialo α₁ -Acid Glycoprotein Levels to Predict Liver Cirrhosis

• Lim DH
• Kim M
• Jun DW
• Kwak MJ
• Yoon JH
• Lee KN
• Lee HL
• Lee OY
• Yoon BC
• Choi HS
• Kang BK

• KMID: 2513682
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl19282

Abstract

Background/Aims
To date, studies on various noninvasive techniques have been suggested to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of se-rum asialo α1-acid glycoprotein (AsAGP) in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis compared with chronic hepatitis for clinically useful result.
Methods
We conducted a case-control study of 96 patients with chronic liver disease. Chronic hepatitis was defined as the presence of chronic liver disease on ultrasonography, with a liver stiffness of less than 5.0 kPa as shown on magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). Liver cirrho-sis was defined as liver stiffness of more than 5.0 kPa on MRE. The serum AsAGP concentration was compared between the two groups.
Results
Serum AsAGP levels were significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis than in those with chronic hepatitis (1.83 μg/mL vs 1.42 μg/mL, p<0.001). Additionally, when comparing pa-tients in each cirrhotic group (Child-Pugh grades A, B, and C) to those with chronic hepatitis, AsAGP levels were significantly higher in all the cirrhotic groups (p<0.05, p<0.01, p<0.001, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of AsAGP for detecting cirrhosis were 79.2% and 64.6%, respectively, and the area under the curve value was 0.733. The best diagnostic cutoff to predict cirrhosis was 1.4 μg/mL. AsAGP and bilirubin were found to be independent risk factors for the prediction of cirrhosis in the logistic regression analysis.
Conclusions
Serum AsAGP showed an acceptable diagnostic performance in predicting liver cirrhosis.

Keyword

Asialo alpha 1-acid glycoprotein; Liver cirrhosis; Chronic hepatitis; Magnetic resonance elastography