title: Clinical significance of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein level and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentration in autoimmune hepatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to examine the relationship between the Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA(+) -M2BP) level and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hCRP) concentration and liver histological findings for patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 84 AIH patients (median age, 64 years) were analyzed. We examined the effect of pretreatment WFA(+) -M2BP level and hCRP concentration on histological findings of liver fibrosis and liver inflammation activity comparing with other laboratory markers. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median WFA(+) -M2BP values in each fibrosis stage were: 1.5 cut-off index (COI) in F1, 2.1 in F2, 3.3 in F3 and 9.8 in F4 (P < 0.001). The median WFA(+) -M2BP values in each liver inflammation stage were: 1.6 COI in A1, 2.5 in A2 and 5.4 in A3 (P < 0.001). For predicting liver cirrhosis (F4), WFA(+) -M2BP yielded the highest AUROC (0.853). For predicting advanced liver fibrosis (F3 or F4), WFA(+) -M2BP, FIB-4 index and hyaluronic acid yielded the highest AUROC (0.747). For predicting severe liver inflammation activity (A3), WFA(+) -M2BP yielded the highest AUROC (0.739). The hCRP concentration in patients with A3 (median, 2230 ng/mL) was significantly higher than that in patients with A1 or A2 (median, 854.5 ng/mL) (P < 0.01). WFA(+) -M2BP level significantly correlated with hCRP concentration (rs  = 0.461, P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WFA(+) -M2BP can be a useful marker for assessing liver histological findings in AIH patients and it correlated well with hCRP concentration.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Enomoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Chikage
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoh
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
keywords: Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein; autoimmune hepatitis; high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; inflammation activity; liver fibrosis