The Role of M30 in Predicting the Severity of Liver Fibrosis and Inflammation in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients.
BACKGROUND
Liver biopsy is an invasive procedure that is currently still necessary for predicting underlying hepatic injury related to chronic viral hepatitis B (CVHB). To date, none of the studied non-invasive methods have been able to replace liver biopsy. An apoptotic serum marker, M30, which has been reported to indicate ongoing liver fibrosis, has been popular in recent years.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to investigate the possible role of M30 in predicting CVHB-associated hepatic injury and its severity.


METHODS
Forty-eight patients undergoing liver biopsy for evaluation of the severity of CVHB-related liver injury and 40 healthy controls were included in this cross-sectional study. M30 levels were determined for all CVHB patients and controls, and other laboratory parameters and demographic features were obtained from our hospital's database.


RESULTS
The mean ages of patients and controls were 39.7 and 45.7 years, respectively, and 35% of the controls and 52% of the patients were male. In contrast to lower platelet counts, transaminase and M30 levels were both higher in the patient group than in the controls. Among the investigated parameters, only transaminase increased as the fibrosis stage changed from mild to moderate; however, none of the laboratory parameters, including M30, differed as the histological activity index (HAI) score increased.


CONCLUSIONS
M30 levels were higher in CVHB patients compared to healthy controls. However, M30 levels were similar in the mild and moderate stages of fibrosis, so they did not indicate the severity of underlying fibrotic or inflammatory processes in CVHB patients.
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Baris
B
Yilmaz
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Bora
B
Aktas
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Akif
A
Altinbas
Department of Biochemistry, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Zeynep
Z
Ginis
Department of Biochemistry, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Gulfer
G
Ozturk
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Fuat
F
Ekiz
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Serta
S
Kilincalp
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Murat
M
Deveci
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Zahide
Z
Simsek
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Sahin
S
Coban
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Omer
O
Basar
Department of Gastroenterology, Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Osman
O
Yuksel
Chronic Hepatitis B; Liver Fibrosis; M30