Department of Internal Medicine I, Regensburg University Hospital, Regensburg, Germany.
Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, University Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
Clin Exp Med. 2018 Feb;18(1):63-69. doi: 10.1007/s10238-017-0468-z. Epub 2017 Jul 25.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an adipokine and hepatokine, and its hepatic expression is induced in the injured liver. Adiponectin, whose systemic levels are positively correlated with measures of hepatic injury in patients with liver cirrhosis, is a downstream effector of FGF21. The aim of the present study was to identify possible associations of serum FGF21 with measures of liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis. FGF21 was determined by ELISA in serum of 42 patients. FGF21 was not linked to disease severity assessed by the Child-Pugh and MELD score. Levels were not changed in those patients with varices and/or ascites. Systemic FGF21 did not correlate with markers of liver and kidney function, inflammatory proteins or adipokines like adiponectin. Levels in hepatic and portal vein of 37 patients were also measured, but there was no transhepatic FGF21 gradient. Three months after insertion of a transjugular intrahepatic shunt hepatic venous pressure gradient was markedly improved, while FGF21 in serum of these 13 patients was not changed. The present study shows that hepatic release and systemic FGF21 are not linked to measures of liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis.
成纤维细胞生长因子 21（FGF21）是一种脂肪因子和肝因子，其在受损的肝脏中表达上调。脂联素是 FGF21 的下游效应物，其在肝硬化患者中的系统水平与肝损伤的测量值呈正相关。本研究旨在确定血清 FGF21 与肝硬化患者肝功能测量值之间可能存在的关联。通过 ELISA 在 42 例患者的血清中测定了 FGF21。FGF21 与 Child-Pugh 和 MELD 评分评估的疾病严重程度无关。在有静脉曲张和/或腹水的患者中，水平没有变化。全身 FGF21 与肝功能、肾功能、炎症蛋白或脂联素等脂肪因子标志物不相关。还测量了 37 例患者的肝静脉和门静脉中的水平，但没有跨肝 FGF21 梯度。在经颈静脉肝内分流术插入后 3 个月，肝静脉压力梯度明显改善，而这些 13 例患者的血清 FGF21 没有变化。本研究表明，肝硬化患者肝脏释放和全身 FGF21 与肝功能测量值无关。
