Direct-acting antivirals-based therapy decreases hepatic fibrosis serum biomarker microfibrillar-associated protein 4 in hepatitis C patients
- Author:
Christian MÖLLEKEN
1
;
Maike AHRENS
;
Anders SCHLOSSER
;
Julia DIETZ
;
Martin EISENACHER
;
Helmut E MEYER
;
Wolff SCHMIEGEL
;
Uffe HOLMSKOV
;
Christoph SARRAZIN
;
Grith Lykke SORENSEN
;
Barbara SITEK
;
Thilo BRACHT
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Hepatitis C, Chronic; Biomarkers; Liver cirrhosis; Antiviral agents; Extracellular matrix proteins
- MeSH: Alanine Transaminase; Antiviral Agents; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Biomarkers; Blood Platelets; Extracellular Matrix Proteins; Fibrosis; Follow-Up Studies; Hepacivirus; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C, Chronic; Hepatitis; Humans; Immunoassay; Liver Cirrhosis; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors
- From:Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2019;25(1):42-51
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIMS: An estimated 80 million people worldwide are infected with viremic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Even after eradication of HCV with direct acting antivirals (DAAs), hepatic fibrosis remains a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis. Recently, we confirmed the applicability of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) as a serum biomarker for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of MFAP4 as a biomarker of liver fibrosis after HCV eliminating therapy with DAAs. METHODS: MFAP4 was measured using an immunoassay in 50 hepatitis C patients at baseline (BL), the end-of-therapy (EoT), and the 12-week follow-up (FU) visit. Changes in MFAP4 from BL to FU and their association with laboratory parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), platelets, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4), and albumin were analyzed. RESULTS: MFAP4 serum levels were representative of the severity of hepatic fibrosis at BL and correlated well with laboratory parameters, especially APRI (Spearman correlation, R²=0.80). Laboratory parameters decreased significantly from BL to EoT. MFAP4 serum levels were found to decrease from BL and EoT to FU with high statistical significance (Wilcoxon p<0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that viral eradication resulted in reduced MFAP4 serum levels, presumably representing a decrease in hepatic fibrogenesis or fibrosis. Hence, MFAP4 may be a useful tool for risk assessment in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis after eradication of the virus.
