Increased serum xylosyltransferase activity in patients with liver fibrosis

We investigated the xylosyltransferase (XT) activity in the serum of liver fibrotic patients with hepatitis C virus induced liver fibrosis at different stages as determined according to the scoring system of Desmet and Scheuer.Measurement of XT activity was performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.We found that serum XT activity in males (n=59, median+/-SD, 27.2+/-2.8 mU/L, p0.001) and females (n=54, 23.6+/-3.0 mU/L, p0.01) with liver fibrosis is significantly elevated in comparison to a corresponding healthy control cohort of males (n=50, 23.9+/-2.8 mU/L) and females (n=52, 21.5+/-3.7 mU/L), respectively. Of note, independent from gender, serum XT activity positively correlated with the stage of fibrosis but declined again in patients with histologically proven cirrhosis.XT activity is increased in the serum of patients with liver fibrosis at different stages, pointing to a possible pathogenetic role in elevated proteoglycan biosynthesis in fibrotic remodeling of this organ during chronic injury.