title: Quantitative analysis of elevated serum Golgi protein-73 expression in patients with liver diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Golgi protein-73 (GP73) is a newly identified candidate serum marker for liver diseases. The utility of this biomarker remains limited, largely due to the lack of quantitative information. The aims of this study were to quantify serum GP73 (sGP73) in healthy individuals and in patients with liver diseases, and to validate sGP73 as a biomarker for early diagnosis of liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recombinant GP73 was used to generate monoclonal (mAb) and polyclonal antibodies (pAb). Using these antibodies in a quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, GP73 was measured in serum from 263 patients with various forms of liver and other diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median sGP73 in patients with liver disease was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in healthy individuals and in patients with other diseases. When sGP73 was used to detect liver disease, it had a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 80% at the optimal cut-off value of 85.5 microg/L. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.9.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  sGP73 concentration in patients with liver disease was three-fold higher than in healthy individuals. However, sGP73 concentrations did not differ significantly between patients from each liver disease group. Furthermore, sGP73 was not significantly elevated in patients with diseases other than liver disease compared with healthy individuals. These results suggest that sGP73 may be used as a serum marker for the diagnosis of liver disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510663, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Liyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C410824:GOLM1 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins