The serum level of TIMP-2 in diagnosing hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatitis B viral infection

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of serum level of TIMP-2 in the diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis in patients with HBV infection.Methods The serum TIMP-2 were detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the serum ALT levels were measured with totally automatic enzymatic method,and the other markers with RIA in 498 hepatitis patients as well as in 100 healthy controls.Results Serum levels of the markers were higher in patients with HBV infecion than those in healthy controls,except the PCⅢ,CⅣ,LN and ALT level in patients with chronic HBV carrier and the CⅣ level in with mild chronic hepatitis B.Among the various types of patients with HBV infection,only the serum TIMP-2 level constantly increased from acute hepatitis to liver cirrhosis,and the difference was found between patients with chronic HBV carrier(78.56±26.23ng/ml)and acute hepatitis B(92.65±21.93ng/ml,P0.05).There were positive correlations between serum TIMP-2 and HA,PCⅢ,CⅣ,LN and ALT(P0.05).Conclusion These markers may reflect the state of liver fibrosis in different liver diseases,and the serum TIMP-2 may be more reliable for diagnosis of liver fibrosis.