Abstract
The serum apolipoprotein A (Apo A) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) were evaluated in histologically verified 30 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis and 18 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The latter were also divided into subgroups depending on the presence or absence of associated cirrhosis. Serum Apo A levels were found to be significantly decreased in cirrhotics ( p < 0.001) compared to controls and non-cirrhotic HCC patients. In 22 cases of alcoholic cirrhosis (AFP < 10 ng/ml) and 12 cases of HCC (AFP > 600 ng/ml), the AFP levels itself were diagnostic, but in the remaining cases, AFP levels (100–600 ng/ml) were not able to differentiate between cirrhosis and malignancy. In this later group of patients with low pathological range of AFP, serum Apo A levels found to be significantly decreased in alcoholic cirrhotic patients ( p < 0.001) compared to HCC patients. Thus, estimation of Apo A levels may be helpful to interpret the AFP values at lower pathological range due to suspected liver pathology.
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