Elevation of serum urokinase plasminogen activator receptor and liver stiffness in postoperative biliary atresia

Table 1 Demographic data, biochemical characteristics, and liver stiffness scores of biliary atresia patients and healthy controls

Variables	BA (n = 85)	Controls (n = 24)	P value
Age (yr)	9.0 ± 0.6	8.5 ± 0.5	0.2
Gender (female:male)	39:46	11:13	0.4
Albumin (g/dL)	4.2 ± 0.1	-	NA
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	2.7 ± 0.4	-	NA
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)	2.3 ± 0.4	-	NA
AST (IU/L)	143.7 ± 11.9	-	NA
ALT (IU/L)	137.1 ± 12.5	-	NA
ALP (IU/L)	449.2 ± 34.0	-	NA
Liver stiffness (kPa)	28.7 ± 2.7	4.1 ± 0.2	< 0.001
uPAR (pg/mL)	6085.9 ± 400.7	4754.5 ± 294.9	0.01

The data was expressed as mean ± SEM. BA: Biliary atresia; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; uPAR: Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor; NA: Not applicable.

Table 2 Comparison of biliary atresia patients without and with jaundice

Variables	BA patients with jaundice(n = 39)	BA patients without jaundice(n = 46)	P-value
Age (yr)	9.5 ± 0.9	8.6 ± 0.9	0.4
Gender (female:male)	18:21	21:25	0.5
Albumin (g/dL)	3.8 ± 0.1	4.5 ± 0.1	< 0.001
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	5.1 ± 0.7	0.5 ± 0.1	< 0.001
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)	4.5 ± 0.6	0.2 ± 0.1	< 0.001
AST (IU/L)	210.4 ± 17.2	84.7 ± 10.2	< 0.001
ALT (IU/L)	195.9 ± 19.9	85.1 ± 10.7	< 0.001
ALP (IU/L)	599.7 ± 52.8	313.0 ± 32.0	< 0.001
Liver stiffness (kPa)	46.2 ± 3.7	13.9 ± 2.0	< 0.001
uPAR (pg/mL)	7373.5 ± 684.6	4994.2 ± 400.9	0.003

The data are expressed as mean ± SEM. BA: Biliary atresia; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; uPAR: Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor; NA: Not applicable.