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Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the serum level of laminin in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C and conduct a comparative study with laminin and five liver fibrosis indices in chronic hepatitis B and C patients. Background: Liver fibrosis is the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins including collagen that occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases – for example, viral hepatitis. Over the last decade, several noninvasive markers for assessing the stage of hepatic fibrosis have been developed. Some have been well validated and are comparable to liver biopsy. Materials and methods: This study was carried out at the Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, and National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, from June 2012 to December 2013. The study included 34 patients with mild liver fibrosis and 28 patients with severe liver fibrosis, in addition to 20 unrelated healthy adults with matched age and sex who served as controls. Serum laminin concentration was estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and five liver fibrosis indices were calculated. Results: Serum laminin concentrations could discriminate between patients with liver fibrosis and healthy individuals and between patients with severe fibrosis and those with mild fibrosis with high accuracy compared with other fibrosis markers like aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index, FIB4, Fibro Q, AAR, and AP. Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between laminin levels and degree of liver fibrosis with high accuracy compared with other fibrosis markers like aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index, FIB4, Fibro Q, AAR, and AP, although in combination they show higher efficacy.

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