[Determination and clinical significance of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 and -2 in serum of children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease].
OBJECTIVE
To examine serum tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) -1 and -2 levels in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and to investigate possible roles of the two markers.


METHODS
One hundred and five obese children were classified into 4 groups: simple obesity (n=44), simple nonalcoholic fatty liver (SNAFL, n=25), and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, n=36). Serum TIMP-1 and -2 levels were measured using ELISA. Serum ALT and gamma-GT levels were measured with totally automatic enzymatic method.


RESULTS
Serum levels of TIMP-1 and gamma-GT increased with the disease development from simple obesity to SNAFL and NASH (P<0.05). Both serum TIMP-1 and -2 levels were positively correlated with gamma-GT levels (r=0.534, P<0.01; r=0.351, P<0.05, respectively). Ninety-seven percent of children in the NASH group had serum TIMP-1 levels over 2 standard deviations of healthy controls (83.35 microg/ L) compared with 76% in the SNAFL group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the case proportion with TIMP-2 levels over 2 standard deviations of healthy controls between the NASH and the SNAFL groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Both TIMP-1 and -2 may reflect the state of liver fibrosis in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and serum TIMP-1 appears to be more reliable.
Li
Yu-Wen
YW
Department of Pediatrics, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230001, China.
Zhu
Chuan-Long
CL
Gao
Ren-Tao
RT
Pan
Jia-Hua
JH
D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / Q000097:blood*; D019716:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 / Q000097:blood*; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1; D019716:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase