Red blood cell distribution width as a non-invasive marker for the assessment of inflammation in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the association between red cell distribution width and inflammation in biopsy proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.


METHODS
Fifty four subjects with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and thirty nine controls were enrolled for the study. Liver biopsy specimens were scored by using non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score by a single experienced liver pathologist.


RESULTS
Red cell distribution width was higher in the severe inflammation group in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (p < 0.05). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the predictive performance of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transferase and red cell distribution width in identifying inflammation in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis were 0.55 (0.41-0.68), 0.51 (0.37-0.64), 0.53 (0.39-0.67) and 0.73 (0.59-0.84) respectively and the differences of these values between red cell distribution width and other parameters were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). To determine the grading of inflammation, the specificity for using the red cell distribution width as an indicator in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis patients was calculated to be 73.3%, with 79.5% sen- sitivity.


CONCLUSIONS
Red cell distribution width was a sensitive and specific method for the assessment of the inflammation in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Serkan
S
Dogan
Mehmet
M
Celikbilek
Gokmen
G
Zararsiz
Kemal
K
Deniz
Serdar
S
Sivgin
Kadri
K
Guven
Sebnem
S
Gursoy
Omer
O
Ozbakir
Mehmet
M
Yucesoy
D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
D015415:Biomarkers; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; C554782:gamma-glutamyltransferase, human; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase