Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive human Mac-2 binding protein in decompensated cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

An assay for Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive human Mac-2 binding protein (WFA -M2BP) has been reported as a useful non-invasive marker for the evaluation of the staging of fibrosis in several chronic liver diseases. However, available data on the effect of WFA -M2BP level in decompensated cirrhosis patients were limited. It is important that these investigations can validate the diagnostic utility of WFA -M2BP in the full range of patients with liver cirrhosis.

METHODS

A multicenter study was conducted at five locations in Japan. A total of 207 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the present study. To determine whether or not the WFA -M2BP value was associated with a progression of fibrosis among cirrhosis, this study examined WFA -M2BP levels between patients with cirrhosis in the decompensated and compensated groups.

RESULTS

The numbers and proportions of compensated and decompensated patients were 113 (54.6%) and 94 (45.4%), respectively. The average WFA -M2BP levels were 2.22 ± 1.61 in the compensated group and 6.91 ± 5.04 in the decompensated group. Significantly higher WFA -M2BP levels were observed in the decompensated group than those in the compensated group (P < 0.0001). The respective cut-off index values for decompensated cirrhosis were estimated using receiver-operating characteristic curves for WFA -M2BP levels. Using a cut-off index value of 3.37 for WFA -M2BP, predicting decompensated cirrhosis had a sensitivity of 77.8% and a specificity of 86.7%.

CONCLUSIONS

WFA -M2BP values were higher in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.