title: Albumin Binding Function: The Potential Earliest Indicator for Liver Function Damage.
abstract: Background. Currently there is no indicator that can evaluate actual liver lesion for early stages of viral hepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and cirrhosis. Aim of this study was to investigate if albumin binding function could better reflect liver function in these liver diseases.Methods. An observational study was performed on 193 patients with early NAFLD, viral hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Cirrhosis patients were separated according to Child-Pugh score into A, B, and C subgroup. Albumin metal ion binding capacity (Ischemia-modified albumin transformed, IMAT) and fatty acid binding capacity (total binding sites, TBS) were detected.Results. Both IMAT and TBS were significantly decreased in patients with NAFLD and early hepatitis. In hepatitis group, they declined prior to changes of liver enzymes. IMAT was significantly higher in cirrhosis Child-Pugh class A group than hepatitis patients and decreased in Child-Pugh class B and class C patients. Both IMAT/albumin and TBS/albumin decreased significantly in hepatitis and NAFLD group patients.Conclusions. This is the first study to discover changes of albumin metal ion and fatty acid binding capacities prior to conventional biomarkers for liver damage in early stage of liver diseases. They may become potential earliest sensitive indicators for liver function evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Penglei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huayu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jingfen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shunda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yingli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3444-8044
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xinting
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shouxian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jiefu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and PUMC, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yilei
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0449-4223
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao