title: Clinical application of elevated platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase in patients with hepatitis B.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to investigate the variation of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) in patients with various stages of hepatitis B infection and evaluate the association between PAF-AH activity and chronic severe hepatitis B (CSHB) and mortality in patients with hepatitis B.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum PAF-AH activity was measured in 216 patients with hepatitis B and in 152 healthy controls using an automatic biochemical analysis system. Spearman correlation was used to investigate the correlation between PAF-AH activity and other biochemical indicators. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the ability of PAF-AH activity to predict CSHB and mortality in patients with hepatitis B.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PAF-AH activities in patients with CSHB (1320 ± 481 U/L) were significantly higher than those in healthy controls and in other hepatitis B groups (all P<0.01). In patients with hepatitis B, PAF-AH activity correlated with total bilirubin (r=0.633), total bile acid (r=0.559), aspartate aminotransferase (r=0.332), apolipoprotein B (r=0.348), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=-0.493), and apolipoprotein AI (r=-0.530). The areas under the ROC curves for the ability of PAF-AH activity to predict CSHB and mortality in patients with hepatitis B were 0.881 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.824-0.937, P<0.001) and 0.757 (95% CI: 0.677-0.837, P<0.001), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed PAF-AH activity to be an independent factor predicting CSHB with an odds ratio of 1.003 (95% CI: 1.002-1.005, P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated PAF-AH in patients with hepatitis B was significantly associated with liver damage. Thus, serum PAF-AH could be used as a novel indicator for predicting CSHB and mortality in patients with hepatitis B. Further, PAF-AH activity was an independent factor predicting CSHB.
authors: Limin
authors: L
authors: Feng
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Zhao
authors: Guofang
authors: G
authors: Feng
authors: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. chenyu_zyyy@163.com.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D043203:1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D043203:1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase