title: The clinical value of serum connective tissue growth factor in the assessment of liver fibrosis.
abstract: To explore the relation between connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in serum and the severity of liver fibrosis, and to determine the clinical value of CTGF in the assessment of liver fibrosis, serum CTGF was tested utilizing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The correlation between serum CTGF concentration and fibrosis stage was assessed. The diagnostic performance of CTGF was assessed by comparing the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC) with a panel of fibrosis markers. The correlation coefficient was 0.689 (P < 0.001) between the levels of serum CTGF and fibrosis stages and the AUC of CTGF was 0.841 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.762-0.920) in distinguishing mild fibrosis from significant fibrosis. The present data revealed that serum CTGF was significantly correlated with the stage of liver fibrosis, suggested that serum CTGF was an indicator for the stage of liver fibrosis, and shown evidence that serum CTGF could be used as a valuable marker for assessing liver fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Second Hospital Affiliated to Medical College, Southeast University, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Dai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nian-Yue
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheng-Bao
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Guo-Xiang
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001706:Biopsy; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor