Brief Reports
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 1, 2004; 10(19): 2864-2866
Published online Oct 1, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i19.2864
Low plasma apolipoprotein A-I level is not a reliable marker of fibrosis in children with chronic hepatitis B
Mukadder Ayse Selimoglu, Rasit Vural Yagcl, Gül Yüce
Mukadder Ayse Selimoglu, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Rasit Vural Yagcl, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
Gül Yüce, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Mukadder-Ayse Selimoglu, Atatürk Üniversitesi, Tlp Fakültesi, Çocuk Sagl lgl ve Hastallklarl AD, Erzurum 25240, Turkey. ayseselimoglu@hotmail.com
Telephone: +90-442-2361212 Ext. 1635 Fax: +90-442-2361301
Received: February 14, 2004
Revised: April 22, 2004
Accepted: April 29, 2004
Published online: October 1, 2004
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the clinical value of plasma apolipoprotein A-I (Apo A-I) as a marker of fibrosis in children with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

METHODS: Liver biopsy specimens from 49 children with CHB were evaluated by using Knodell index. Plasma Apo A-I level was measured after 12-h fasting. Student’s t test, Spearman’s correlation test and receptor-operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used for statistical evaluation.

RESULTS: Mean Apo A-I level of the patients was not different from that of controls (P > 0.05). Six (8.7%) children had fibrosis score of more than 2 (severe fibrosis). No difference in the level of mean plasma Apo A-I was found among children with and without severe fibrosis (P > 0.05). No correlation between Apo A-I level and fibrosis scores was found (P > 0.05). The area under the ROC curve was 0.407 ± 0.146 (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Severe fibrosis is not common in children with CHB and plasma Apo A-I level is not a reliable indicator of fibrosis.

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