title: Betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) as a specific and sensitive blood marker for acute liver injury.
abstract: We developed a high-performance ELISA assay and measured serum BHMT levels in healthy individuals and patients with acute liver injury (ALI). The detection range of this ELISA assay was from 1.56 to 100 ng/ml. BHMT levels are significantly higher in ALI groups. In the healthy group (n = 244), the median value (interquartile range, IQR 0-56.40) was 1.83 ng/ml. In the ALI group (n = 42), the median value of BHMT was 748.48 ng/ml (IQR, 0-51095.92). ROC curve analysis demonstrated good sensitivity (0.86) and specificity (0.98). In addition, in five ALI cases with time course samples available, BHMT and ALT both followed the "rise and fall" temporal pattern with the disease progression. However, the slopes of BHMT curves were steeper than ALT curves. And in three out of the five cases, BHMT levels peaked 1 day earlier than ALT levels be a sensitive marker with good prognostic value.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Nanoscience and Technology , Beijing , P.R. China .
authors.forename: Huailei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Chunming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Xiangli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lausted
authors.forename: Leroy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hood
authors.forename: Jiankui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D055371:Acute Lung Injury / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D050940:Betaine-Homocysteine S-Methyltransferase / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C494548:BHMT protein, human; D050940:Betaine-Homocysteine S-Methyltransferase
keywords: BHMT; biomarker; hepatotoxicity; immunoassay; liver function; organ specificity