Liver fibrosis in alcoholics. Detection by Fab radioimmunoassay of serum procollagen III peptides.

Radioimmunoassays were used to measure serum levels of laminin and of procollagen III peptides, both with the intact antibody and with the Fab fragments, within one week of alcohol withdrawal in 83 alcoholics admitted for detoxification and/or treatment of concomitant medical problems. All patients underwent a diagnostic liver biopsy, which revealed simple fatty liver in 22, perivenular fibrosis in 20, septal fibrosis in 21, and cirrhosis in 20. Although all three serum measurements correlated significantly with the degree of fibrosis, only the Fab radioimmunoassay of procollagen III peptides discriminated between simple fatty liver and perivenular fibrosis in a significant number of subjects.