Relationship among serum laminin,hyaluronic acid,type IV collagenase and histologic staging of hepatic fibrosis

Purpose:To assess the relation between serum fibrosis markers including laminin(LN),hyaluronic acid(HA) and type Ⅳ collagenase(Ⅳ-C) and histologic staging of hepatic fibrosis in patients with acute or chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis.Methods:Serum LN,HA and Ⅳ-C were measured by RIA in 152 patients with hepatic diseases,and among them,108 cases were divided into 5 grades of liver fibrosis(S 0-S 4) by liver biopsy,HE,reticulum and elastic staining.Results:Levels of serum LN,HA,and Ⅳ-C in chronic hepatitis(moderate or severe) and liver cirrhosis were remarkably higher than those of normal controls( P 0.05). Relative coefficients of LN,HA and Ⅳ-C with hepatic fibrosis grades were 0.983,0.980 and 0.990 respectively(all P 0.01). Conclusion:Serum fibrosis markers are fairly well correlated with the stages of hepatic fibrosis.Detecting the alteration of those markers in hepatic diseases can provide clinical value for diagnosing liver diseases and assessing stages of hepatic fibrosis on correspondence with levels of serum fibrosis markers.