A study on the diagnostic value of GP73 in liver fibrosis among patients with chronic liver disease

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum Golgi protein 73(GP73) alone and GP73 combined with liver stiffness measurement (LSM), aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index (APRI), and 4-factor-based fibrosis index (FIB4) in diagnosing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease of different etiologies. Methods: A diagnostic test. A total of 68 patients who underwent liver biopsy in the Department of Traditional and Western Medical Hepatology of the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from October 2019 to December 2020 were selected to detect serum GP73 levels. iLivTouch was used to assess liver stiffness measurement (LSM). In addition, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin (TBil), direct bilirubin (DBil), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, and peripheral platelet (PLT) counts were assayed. The correlation between GP73 and the above indexes was assessed, and APRI and FIB-4 were calculated. SPSS 21.0 statistical software was used for statistical analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated to evaluate diagnostic efficacy of GP73 in identifying hepatic fibrosis stages. Furthermore, the difference between GP73 and liver stiffness, as well as APRI and FIB4 in diagnosing significant fibrosis was assessed. Results: Based on liver biopsy, 13, 18, 17, and 20 cases were diagnosed as stages S0-1, S2, S3, and S4, respectively. The AUC of GP73 diagnosing hepatic fibrosis stage S≥3 and S=4 were 0.806 and 0.844 at cut-off points of 2.06 and 3.27 μg/L, and the sensitivity and specificity were 93.5%, 61.5%, 90.0%, 70.3%, respectively. In addition, GP73 levels were positively correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis (r=0.547, P<0.001). Conclusions: The efficacy of serum GP73 level in diagnosing the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease from different causes was significantly higher than that of APRI, FIB4, and LSM. The combination of GP73 and FIB4 can further improve the accuracy of diagnosis of liver fibrosis staging S≥3 and S=4, which is a reliable serological marker for the diagnosis of fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease.