Serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein levels and liver fibrosis: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

A reliable, non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis of liver fibrosis in chronic liver disease patients is needed. The aim of this study was to assess by meta-analysis the efficacy of measuring serum levels of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA -M2BP), a novel and promising biomarker, for staging liver fibrosis and predicting the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and overall survival.

METHODS

We performed a meta-analysis using online journal database searches. We identified 39 studies, 21 of which met the criteria for meta-analysis. Sensitivity and specificity of WFA -M2BP for assessing liver fibrosis staging in chronic liver diseases with broad etiologies were determined. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals were also used for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma development and overall survival.

RESULTS

With WFA -M2BP, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting significant fibrosis (≥ F2), advanced fibrosis (≥ F3), and liver cirrhosis (= F4) were 0.690 and 0.778, 0.764 and 0.758, and 0.818 and 0.839, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing liver fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus were mostly higher than those in overall patients. However, sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing liver fibrosis in patients with hepatitis B virus were lower than those in overall patients. Overall, hazard ratios for development of hepatocellular carcinoma and overall survival were 5.946 and 1.068, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that serum WFA -M2BP is a reliable predictor for liver fibrosis staging and a good substitute for liver biopsy. It is also useful for predicting both hepatocellular carcinoma development and overall survival.