title: Clinical significance of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein level in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between the Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) level and histological findings for patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 134 NASH patients (mean age, 51.7 years) were analyzed. We examined the effect of WFA+-M2BP level on severity of liver fibrosis comparing with other laboratory markers, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4 index, platelet count and hyaluronic acid as serum liver fibrosis markers. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed for calculating the area under the ROC (AUROC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WFA+-M2B P-value ranged from 0.2 cut-off index (COI) to 9.6 COI (median, 0.9). The median values in each fibrosis stage were: 0.7 COI in F1, 0.7 COI in F2, 1.2 COI in F3 and 2.4 COI in F4 (P < 0.001). For predicting liver cirrhosis (F4), WFA+-M2BP level had the AUROC of 0.854 (sensitivity, 69.2%; specificity, 88.4%) and for predicting advanced liver fibrosis (≥F3), WFA+-M2BP level yielded the second highest AUROC with a level of 0.842 (sensitivity, 73.7%; specificity, 80.2%) and for predicting significant liver fibrosis (≥F2), WFA+-M2BP level yielded the highest AUROC with a level of 0.663 (sensitivity, 47.2%; specificity, 78.6%) among six liver fibrosis markers. The median values in patients with ballooning scores 1 (n = 58) and 2 (n = 76) were 0.6 and 1.1 COI, respectively (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum WFA+-M2BP level can be useful for assessing liver histological findings in patients with NASH.
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: Kyohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kishino
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimono
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: 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: 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: 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: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishii
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: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nissay Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideji
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
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; liver fibrosis; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; predictability; serum marker