Spider angiomas in patients with liver cirrhosis: Role of vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor

Table 1 Plasma levels of VEGF and bFGF

Parameters	Healthy controls (n = 53)	Cirrhotics (n = 86)	P Value
VEGF (pg/mL)	71 ± 11	122 ± 13	0.003
bFGF (pg/mL)	3.4 ± 0.5	5.1 ± 0.5	0.022

VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, bFGF = basic fibro-blast growth factor.

Table 2 Characteristics of patients’

	No. of patients	VEGF (pg/ml)	bFGF (pg/ml)
Sex
Male	67	121 ± 14	4.8 ± 0.5
Female	19	123 ± 27	6.1 ± 1.5
Age
≤ 60 years	36	149 ± 24	5.2 ± 0.8
> 60 years	50	103 ± 13	5.1 ± 0.6
Etiology
Alcohol-related	26	167 ± 29*	4.6 ± 0.7
Non-alcoholic	60	103 ± 13	5.4 ± 0.6
Albumin (g/dL)
≤ 3.6	48	132 ± 15	5.1 ± 0.7
> 3.6	38	109 ± 21	5.2 ± 0.7
Creatinine (mg/dL)
≤ 1.5	83	122 ± 13	5.2 ± 0.5
> 1.5	3	125 ± 73	4.5 ± 2.6
ALT (U/L)
≤ 40	37	136 ± 22	4.1 ± 0.6
> 40	49	111 ± 15	5.9 ± 0.7
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)
≤ 1.6	54	115 ± 16	5.2 ± 0.6
> 1.6	32	133 ± 20	5.0 ± 0.9
Child-Pugh score
A	47	98 ± 19	5.5 ± 0.7
B, C	39	141 ± 16	4.8 ± 0.7
Prothrombin time prolongation > 4 s
Yes	27	145 ± 23	5.0 ± 1.0
No	59	112 ± 15	5.3 ± 0.6
Platelet count (/μL)
≤ 150000	71	109 ± 12†	6.8 ± 1.5
> 150000	15	204 ± 41	4.7 ± 0.5
Esophageal varices
Yes	59	122 ± 14	5.0 ± 0.6
No	27	119 ± 28	5.8 ± 1.0
Spider angioma
Yes	31	185 ± 28b	6.8 ± 1.0a
No	55	90 ± 10	4.1 ± 0.5

Data were presented as mean ± SD.

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.005. VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, bFGF = basic fibro-blast growth factor.

Table 3 Clinical features of cirrhotic patients with and with-out spider angiomas

Parameters	Spider (+) (n = 31)	Spider (-) (n = 55)	P Value
Age (years)	54 ± 2	66 ± 1	< 0.001
Sex (male/female)	27/4	41/14	0.17
Albumin (g/dL)	3.4 ± 0.1	3.5 ± 0.1	0.69
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.0 ± 0.1	1.1 ± 0.1	0.24
AST (U/L)	91 ± 9	89 ± 13	0.93
ALT (U/L)	59 ± 9	72 ± 11	0.36
Platelet count (/uL)	108097 ± 12 379	94762 ± 7 541	0.33
Esophageal varices (nil/F1/F2/F3)	7/6/12/6	18/12/14/11	0.88
Child-Pugh score	8.2 ± 0.5	7.3 ± 0.3	0.99
Bilirubin (mg/dL)	3.1 ± 0.5	1.7 ± 0.2	0.03
Prothrombin time (s)	16.6 ± 0.7	14.8 ± 0.4	0.015
Alcoholism	14 (45%)	11 (20%)	0.014

AST = aspartate transaminase, ALT = alanine transaminase.

Table 4 Univariate analysis of predictive factors for spider angiomas

Parameters	Odds ratio	95% Confidence interval	P Value
Age ( ≤ 60 years)	5.12	1.97-13.28	0.001
Albumin ( ≥ 3.7 g/dL)	0.66	0.27-1.64	0.369
Creatinine ( > 1.5 mg/dL)	0.58	0.06-5.81	0.642
AST ( > 45 U/L)	5.76	1.56-21.3	0.009
ALT ( > 40 U/L)	1.24	0.51-3.02	0.634
Bilirubin ( > 1.6 mg/dL)	2.71	1.09-6.74	0.031
Platelet count ( > 150000/uL)	1.41	0.44-4.52	0.563
Prothrombin time	2.96	1.15-7.58	0.024
prolongation ( > 4 s)
Child-Pugh score C	1.64	0.59-4.53	0.344
VEGF ( ≥ 134 pg/mL)	5.33	1.93-14.74	0.001
bFGF ( ≥ 4.8 pg/mL)	4.38	1.67-11.5	0.003
Alcoholism	3.29	1.25-8.67	0.016

AST = aspartate transaminase, ALT = alanine transaminase, VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, bFGF = basic fibro-blast growth factor.

Table 5 Multivariate analysis of predictive values of VEGF, bFGF, and age for spider angiomas

Parameters	Odd sratio	95% confidence interval	P Value
Age ( ≤ 60 years)	6.64	2.02-21.79	0.002
VEGF ( ≥ 134 pg/mL)	4.35	1.35-14.01	0.014
bFGF ( ≥ 4.8 pg/mL)	5.66	1.72-18.63	0.004

VEGF = vascular endothelial growth factor, bFGF = basic fibro-blast growth factor.