Serum amyloid A levels in patients with liver diseases

BACKGROUND Serum amyloid A(SAA)is an acute phase protein mainly synthesized by the liver.SAA induces inflammatory phenotype and promotes cell proliferation in activated hepatic stellate cells,the major scar forming cells in the liver.However,few studies have reported on the serum levels of SAA in human liver disease and its clinical significance in various liver diseases.AIM To investigate the serum levels of SAA in patients with different liver diseases and analyze the factors associated with the alteration of SAA levels in chronic hepatitis B(CHB)patients.METHODS Two hundred and seventy-eight patients with different liver diseases and 117 healthy controls were included in this study.The patients included 205 with CHB,22 with active autoimmune liver disease(AILD),21 with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH),14 with drug-induced liver injury(DILI),and 16 with pyogenic liver abscess.Serum levels of SAA and other clinical parameters were collected for the analysis of the factors associated with SAA level.Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the serum SAA levels of patients with various liver diseases with those of healthy controls.Bonferroni test was applied for post hoc comparisons to control the probability of type 1 error(alpha=0.05/6=0.008).For statistical tests of other variables,P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Statistically significant factors determined by single factor analysis were further analyzed by binary multivariate logistic regression analysis.RESULTS All patients with active liver diseases had higher serum SAA levels than healthy controls and the inactive CHB patients,with the highest SAA level found in patients with pyogenic liver abscess(398.4±246.8 mg/L).Patients with active AILD(19.73±24.81 mg/L)or DILI(8.036±5.685 mg/L)showed higher SAA levels than those with active CHB(6.621±6.776 mg/L)and NASH(6.624±4.891 mg/L).Single(P<0.001)and multivariate logistic regression analyses(P=0.039)for the CHB patients suggested that patients with active CHB were associated with an SAA serum level higher than 6.4 mg/L.Serum levels of SAA and CRP(C-reactive protein)were positively correlated in patients with CHB(P<0.001),pyogenic liver abscess(P=0.045),and active AILD(P=0.02).Serum levels of SAA(0.80-871.0 mg/L)had a broader fluctuation range than CRP(0.30-271.3 mg/L).CONCLUSION Serum level of SAA is a sensitive biomarker for inflammatory activity of pyogenic liver abscess.It may also be a weak marker reflecting milder inflammatory status in the liver of patients with CHB and other active liver diseases.

Polymorphisms of AZIN1 rs2679757 and TRPM5 rs886277 are Associated with Cirrhosis Risk in Chinese Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

Objective Genome-wide association studies(GWAS)have linked many single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)to the outcomes of a variety of liver diseases.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of several candidate SNPs with the risk and severity of cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis B in a Chinese population.Methods A total of 714 Chinese participants with persistent HBV infection were studied.Patients were divided into cirrhotic(n=429)and non-cirrhotic(n=285)groups based on clinical and pathological evidence.The progression rate and severity of liver cirrhosis were evaluated with an arbitrary t-score system.Genotypes of six SNPs in five candidate genes were detected with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS).The genotypic distributions of the SNPs were compared between the age-matched cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic subjects.The association between the risk of SNPs and the severity and progression rate of cirrhosis was further analyzed.Results Rs2679757 polymorphism of the antizyme inhibitor 1(AZIN1)gene and Rs886277 in the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M,member 5 gene(TRPM5)were found to be associated with cirrhosis risk in CHB.They were also correlated with the overall severity and progression rate of cirrhosis.Genotype frequencies of other SNPs were not different between the cirrhosis and non-cirrhosis groups.Conclusions AZIN1 rs2679757 and TRPM5 rs886277 are associated with the risk and the progression rate of HBV-related liver fibrosis in Chinese patients.The emerging SNPs associated with cirrhosis prognosis warrant further clinical validation in other CHB cohorts or ethnic groups,and merit mechanistic studies to reveal their roles in fibrosis progression.

Developing natural marine products for treating liver diseases

In recent years,marine-derived bioactive compounds have gained increasing attention because of their higher biodiversity vs land-derived compounds.A number of marine-derived compounds are proven to improve lipid metabolism,modulate the gut microbiota,and possess anti-inflammatory,antioxidant,antibacterial,antiviral,and antitumor activities.With the increasing understanding of the molecular landscape underlying the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases,interest has spiked in developing new therapeutic drugs and medicine food homology from marine sources for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases.