title: Serum ferritin is a clinical biomarker in Japanese patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) independent of HFE gene mutation.
abstract: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver injury. The spectrum of NAFLD is broad, extending from simple steatosis through nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Iron is regarded as a putative element that interacts with oxygen radicals, and high rates of hyperferritinemia and increased hepatic iron stores have been demonstrated in NASH. We investigated serum ferritin concentrations, HFE gene mutations, and insulin resistance in Japanese NASH patients and the diagnostic utility of serum ferritin concentrations as a means of distinguishing NASH. Serum ferritin concentrations were measured in 86 patients with histopathologically verified NAFLD (24 with steatosis and 62 with NASH) and 20 control subjects, they were tested for HFE gene mutations and their insulin resistance was measured. The serum ferritin concentration was significantly higher in the NASH patients than in the patients with simple steatosis (P = 0.006). There was no significant difference between the groups in HFE gene mutation (C282Y, H63D, and S65C), and the serum ferritin level was related with insulin resistance. The area under the ROC curve was 0.732 for distinguishing NASH from simple steatosis (P = 0.005; 95% CI, 0.596-0.856). In conclusion high serum ferritin concentrations are a distinguishing feature of Japanese NASH patients independent of HFE gene mutations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Kanazawa-ku, Japan. yoneda@med.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoneda
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mawatari
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoneda
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kirikoshi
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inamori
authors.forename: Noritoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maeyama
authors.forename: Kikuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakajima
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005293:Ferritins