Value of blood mass spectrometry analysis in differentiating decompensated liver cirrhosis patients

Abstract

Objectives To compare the difference of blood mass spectrometry analysis between decompensated liver cirrhosis patients and compensated liver cirrhosis patients. Methods Thirty-four patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis and 47 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis were selected. All patients were analyzed by blood mass spectrometry, and the detected 93 parameters included amino acids, acylcarnitines and some of their ratios. Results After multivariate analysis using the 93 parameters, the two groups could be differentiated clearly. There were 32 parameters that contributed to the separation, which included 4 ratios. Logistic analysis showed that alanine, tetradecanoyl diacylcarnitine, tetradecenoylcarnitine, proline and serine could be used to separate the two groups sufficiently. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve generated using the 5 parameters could reach to 0.99. Except alanine, the other 4 metabolites were all increased in the decompensated patients. Conclusions Blood mass spectrometry analysis could be used to differentiate decompensated and non-decompensated cirrhosis patients. The significantly changed metabolites might provide valuable hint in pathological study of the disease. Key words: Liver cirrhosis; Mass spectrometry; Amino acids; Acylcarnitine