title: Growth Differentiation Factor 15 Predicts Chronic Liver Disease Severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) belongs to the transforming growth factor-β superfamily. GDF-15 is emerging as a biomarker for several diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical performances of GDF-15 for the prediction of liver fibrosis and severity in chronic liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The serum GDF-15 levels were examined via enzyme immunoassay in 145 patients with chronic liver disease and 101 healthy individuals. The patients with chronic liver disease consisted of 54 patients with chronic hepatitis, 44 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis, and 47 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the patients with chronic liver diseases, the decompensated liver cirrhosis patients had an increased serum GDF-15 (3,483 ng/L) level compared with the patients with compensated liver cirrhosis (1,861 ng/L) and chronic hepatitis (1,232 ng/L). The overall diagnostic accuracies of GDF-15, as determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves, were as follows: chronic hepatitis=0.656 (>574 ng/L, sensitivity, 53.7%; specificity, 79.2%), compensated liver cirrhosis=0.886 (>760 ng/L, sensitivity, 75.6%; specificity, 92.1%), and decompensated liver cirrhosis=0.984 (>869 ng/L, sensitivity, 97.9%; specificity, 94.1%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This investigation represents the first study to demonstrate the availability of GDF-15 in chronic liver disease. GDF-15 comprised a useful biomarker for the prediction of liver fibrosis and severity in chronic liver disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Eaum Seok
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Seok
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Bon Jeong
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ku
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D055436:Growth Differentiation Factor 15 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C526140:GDF15 protein, human; D055436:Growth Differentiation Factor 15
keywords: Biomarkers; Chronic liver disease; Decompensated liver cirrhosis; Fibrosis; Growth differentiation factor 15