PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Longitudinal increase in albumin-bilirubin score is associated with non-malignancy-related mortality and quality of life in patients with liver cirrhosis.

  • Akira Sakamaki,
  • Masaaki Takamura,
  • Norihiro Sakai,
  • Yusuke Watanabe,
  • Yoshihisa Arao,
  • Naruhiro Kimura,
  • Toru Setsu,
  • Hiroyuki Abe,
  • Takeshi Yokoo,
  • Hiroteru Kamimura,
  • Shunsuke Tsubata,
  • Nobuo Waguri,
  • Toru Ishikawa,
  • Hirokazu Kawai,
  • Soichi Sugitani,
  • Tomomi Sato,
  • Kazuhiro Funakoshi,
  • Masashi Watanabe,
  • Kentarou Igarashi,
  • Kenya Kamimura,
  • Atsunori Tsuchiya,
  • Yutaka Aoyagi,
  • Shuji Terai

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263464
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 2
p. e0263464

Abstract

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Due to the developments in the treatment for hepatitis, it is possible to prevent the progression of liver fibrosis and improve patients' prognosis even if it has already led to liver cirrhosis (LC). Consequently, a two-step study was conducted. To begin with, a retrospective study was conducted to identify the potential predictors of non-malignancy-related mortality from LC. Then, we prospectively analyzed the validity of these parameters as well as their association with patients' quality of life. In the retrospective study, 89 cases were included, and the multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that age (P = 0.012), model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score (P = 0.012), and annual rate of change of the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with LC prognosis. In the prospective study, 70 patients were included, and the patients were divided into cirrhosis progression and non-progression groups. The univariate logistic regression analysis indicated the serum procollagen type III N-terminal peptide level (P = 0.040) and MELD score (P = 0.010) were significantly associated with the annual rate of change of the ALBI score. Furthermore, the mean Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire score worsened from 5.3 to 4.9 in the cirrhosis progression group (P = 0.034). In conclusion, a longitudinal increase in the ALBI score is closely associated with non-malignancy-related mortality and quality of life.