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Aim We aimed to construct a predictive model for advanced fibrosis containing Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) level in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and to validate its accuracy in an independent cohort. Methods A total of 386 patients with CHC were retrospectively analyzed. For the purpose of this study, we formed a training set ( n = 210) and a validation set ( n = 176). In the training set, we investigated variables linked to the presence of advanced fibrosis using univariate and multivariate analyses. We constructed a formula for predicting advanced fibrosis and validated its accuracy in the validation cohort. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was carried out for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC). Results In multivariate analyses, WFA+-M2BP ( P = 0.029) and prothrombin time (PT) ( P = 0.018) were found to be significant predictive factors linked to the presence of advanced fibrosis; platelet count ( P = 0.098) and hyaluronic acid ( P = 0.078) showed borderline statistical significance for the presence of advanced fibrosis. Using these four variables (with the initials MPPH), we constructed the following formula: MPPH score = −3.584 − (0.275 × WFA+-M2BP) + (0.068 × platelet count) + (0.042 × PT) − (0.005 × hyaluronic acid). In the training and validation sets, MPPH score yielded the highest AUROCs (0.87 and 0.83) for predicting advanced fibrosis among eight serum liver fibrosis markers. Similarly, in the training and validation sets, MPPH score had the highest diagnostic accuracies for predicting advanced fibrosis among eight serum variables (81.4% and 74.4%). Conclusion Our proposed MPPH scoring system can be useful for predicting advanced fibrosis in patients with CHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To examine the relationship between serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) levels and liver histological findings for patients with treatment naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 189 treatment naïve-CHB patients were analyzed. We examined the effect of pretreatment serum WFA+-M2BP levels on histological findings compared with other laboratory markers, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index, Fibrosis-4 index, platelet count, AST to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, and hyaluronic acid as liver fibrosis markers, and AST value, ALT value, and serum interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 level as liver inflammation markers. Results The WFA+-M2BP value ranged from 0.3 cut-off index (COI) to 12.9 COI (median value, 1.2 COI). The degree of liver fibrosis was significantly stratified according to WFA+-M2BP level in each group except for groups F2 and F3 and the degree of liver inflammation activity was significantly stratified according to WFA+-M2BP level in each group. For predicting F4, WFA+-M2BP level yielded the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) with a level of 0.87 and for predicting advanced liver fibrosis (≥F3) and significant liver fibrosis (≥F2), WFA+-M2BP level yielded the second highest AUROCs (both, 0.77) among six fibrotic markers. For predicting severe (A3) or significant liver inflammation activity (≥A2), AUROCs of WFA+-M2BP level were 0.78 and 0.76. Conclusion 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the impact of pretreatment Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) level on hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg) loss or HBeAg seroconversion (SC) for patients with nucleoside/nucleotide analog (NUC) therapy naive HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 57 patients were analyzed. All subjects were initially treated with NUC. We examined the impact of pretreatment WFA+-M2BP level on HBeAg loss and HBeAg SC using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results There were 36 men and 21 women (median age, 39 years). The WFA+-M2BP cut-off index (COI) level ranged 0.43-12.9 (median, 1.55). WFA+-M2BP level in patients with F3 or F4 was significantly higher than that with F0-F2. WFA+-M2BP level in patients with A2 or 3 was significantly higher than that with A0 or 1. For all cases, the 1- and 3-year cumulative HBeAg loss rates were 10.5% and 34.4% and the corresponding cumulative HBeAg SC rates were 8.8% and 29.0%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, in terms of HBeAg loss, pretreatment HBV DNA of 5 log copies/mL or more and pretreatment WFA+-M2BP level of more than 1.55 COI tended to be significant factors linked to loss of HBeAg, while in terms of HBeAg SC, pretreatment HBV DNA of 5 log copies/mL or more was an independent predictor and pretreatment WFA+-M2BP level of more than 1.55 COI tended to be a significant factor. Conclusion Pretreatment WFA+-M2BP level may be a useful predictor for HBeAg loss or SC after NUC therapy for patients with HBeAg positive CHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim We aimed to examine the relationship between the Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) level and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hCRP) concentration and liver histological findings for patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Methods A total of 84 AIH patients (median age, 64 years) were analyzed. We examined the effect of pretreatment WFA+-M2BP level and hCRP concentration on histological findings of liver fibrosis and liver inflammation activity comparing with other laboratory markers. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC). Results The median WFA+-M2BP values in each fibrosis stage were: 1.5 cut-off index (COI) in F1, 2.1 in F2, 3.3 in F3 and 9.8 in F4 ( P < 0.001). The median WFA+-M2BP values in each liver inflammation stage were: 1.6 COI in A1, 2.5 in A2 and 5.4 in A3 ( P < 0.001). For predicting liver cirrhosis (F4), WFA+-M2BP yielded the highest AUROC (0.853). For predicting advanced liver fibrosis (F3 or F4), WFA+-M2BP, FIB-4 index and hyaluronic acid yielded the highest AUROC (0.747). For predicting severe liver inflammation activity (A3), WFA+-M2BP yielded the highest AUROC (0.739). The hCRP concentration in patients with A3 (median, 2230 ng/mL) was significantly higher than that in patients with A1 or A2 (median, 854.5 ng/mL) ( P < 0.01). WFA+-M2BP level significantly correlated with hCRP concentration ( r s = 0.461, P < 0.001). Conclusion WFA+-M2BP can be a useful marker for assessing liver histological findings in AIH patients and it correlated well with hCRP concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim We aimed to examine the relationship between serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) levels and serum interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) levels and liver histological findings for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) compared with other laboratory fibrotic or inflammatory parameters. Methods A total of 57 PBC patients were analyzed. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC) for WFA+-M2BP, IP-10 and four serum fibrosis markers for the presence of liver cirrhosis (F4) or advanced fibrosis (F3 or F4). Similarly, ROC analysis of WFA+-M2BP, IP-10, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase for the presence of severe inflammation activity (A3) was performed. Results There were eight men and 49 women (median age, 59 years). As for histological findings, F4 was observed in five patients, F3 in 11, F2 in 17, F1 in 24 and F0 in zero, whereas A3 was observed in seven patients, A2 in 27, A1 in 19 and A0 in four. The WFA+-M2BP levels ranged from 0.5 cut-off index (COI) to 13.6 COI (median, 1.8), while serum IP-10 levels ranged 121.9-1835.9 pg/mL (median, 571.5). For predicting liver cirrhosis, WFA+-M2BP yielded the highest AUROC (0.97, P < 0.01). For predicting severe liver inflammation activity (A3), WFA+-M2BP and serum IP-10 yielded the highest AUROC with a level of 0.87. WFA+-M2BP levels significantly correlated with serum IP-10 levels ( r s = 0.55, P < 0.0001). Conclusion Serum WFA+-M2BP and serum IP-10 can be useful markers for predicting histological findings in PBC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]