PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Assessment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity with novel serum-based markers: A pilot study.

  • Atul Goyale,
  • Anjly Jain,
  • Colette Smith,
  • Margarita Papatheodoridi,
  • Marta Guerrero Misas,
  • Davide Roccarina,
  • Laura Iogna Prat,
  • Dimitri P Mikhailidis,
  • Devaki Nair,
  • Emmanuel Tsochatzis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260313
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 11
p. e0260313

Abstract

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Background/aimsNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a significant public health issue. Identifying patients with simple steatosis from those with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is crucial since NASH is correlated with increased morbidity and mortality. Serum-based markers, including adipokines and cytokines, are important in the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD. Here we assessed the usefulness of such markers in patients with NAFLD.MethodsThis prospective, cross-sectional study included 105 adult patients with varying severity of NAFLD. Twelve serum-based markers were measured by 3 biochip platforms and 2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. We also developed a NAFLD individual fibrosis index (NIFI) using the serum-based markers mostly correlated with fibrosis severity.ResultsSixty-one out of 105 patients were male (58.1%) with mean age was 53.5 years. Higher Interleukin-6 (IL-6) increased (p = 0.0321) and lower Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) serum levels (p = 0.0031) were associated with higher fibrosis as measured by Fibroscan® in multivariable regression analysis. Using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the NIFI, area under the curve for predicting Fibroscan values ≥ 7.2 kPa was 0.77 (95%CI: 0.67, 0.88, pConclusionsIncreasing fibrosis severity in NAFLD is associated with differential expression of IL-6 and MMP-9. NIFI could be valuable for the prediction of advanced NAFLD fibrosis and potentially help avoid unnecessary interventions such as liver biopsy in low-risk patients.