Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2020; 26(27): 3952-3962
Published online Jul 21, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i27.3952
Serum ceruloplasmin can predict liver fibrosis in hepatitis B virus-infected patients
Na-Ling Kang, Jie-Min Zhang, Meng-Xin Lin, Xu-Dong Chen, Zu-Xiong Huang, Yue-Yong Zhu, Yu-Rui Liu, Da-Wu Zeng
Na-Ling Kang, Yue-Yong Zhu, Yu-Rui Liu, Da-Wu Zeng, Liver Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Jie-Min Zhang, Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Meng-Xin Lin, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Hospital of Quanzhou Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou 362000, Fujian Province, China
Xu-Dong Chen, Department of Gastroenterology, the 910th Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, Quanzhou 362000, Fujian Province, China
Zu-Xiong Huang, Hepatology, Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Kang NL, Zhang JM, Lin MX, and Huang ZX contributed equally to this work; Kang NL, Zeng DW, and Liu YR conceived and designed the experiments; Kang NL, Zhang JM, and Zeng DW performed the experiments; Chen XD, Huang ZX, Lin MX, Zhang JM, and Zhu YY analyzed the data; Kang NL, Zhang JM, Chen XD, Huang ZX, and Lin MX contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; Kang NL, Zhang JM, and Zeng DW wrote the manuscript.
Supported by the Science and Technology Department of Fujian Province, No. 2018J01164; Quanzhou Science and Technology Bureau Planning Project, No. 2019N019S.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Fujian Medical University.
Informed consent statement: The need for informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Da-Wu Zeng, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Doctor, Liver Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, No. 20, Chazhong Road, Taijiang District, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China. zengdw1980@fjmu.edu.cn
Received: March 17, 2020
Peer-review started: March 17, 2020
First decision: April 25, 2020
Revised: May 6, 2020
Accepted: June 30, 2020
Article in press: June 30, 2020
Published online: July 21, 2020
Processing time: 126 Days and 1.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected individuals with persistently normal serum alanine aminotransferase (PNALT) levels may develop severe liver fibrosis, which requires antiviral therapy. Following up on our previous findings, this multicenter, cross-sectional study showed that ceruloplasmin (CP) has an inverse correlation with liver fibrosis and is a promising predictive marker for liver fibrosis among HBV-infected individuals with PNALT. We developed a noninvasive model (ceruloplasmin hepatitis B virus) using CP, platelets, and HBsAg levels to identify various stages of fibrosis among HBV-infected individuals with PNALT. Our model could reduce the need for liver biopsy before antiviral treatment.