Department of Infectious Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510630, People's Republic of China.
Division of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530021, People's Republic of China.
BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 28;24(1):1214. doi: 10.1186/s12879-024-10114-8.
Fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1), a low molecular weight intracellular protein, has been proposed as a potential useful serum biomarker for liver injury. However, limited investigations have been conducted in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver disease.
To investigate the diagnostic potential of FABP1 in disease progression among patients with chronic HBV-related liver disease.
A prospective study was conducted on 293 patients with chronic HBV-related liver diseases, including chronic asymptomatic carrier (ASC), chronic hepatitis B (CHB). FABP1 was measured in serum samples collected at admission and some selected liver biopsies.
Immunohistochemical analysis revealed abundant cytoplasmic expression of FABP1 in hepatocytes. A significant negative correlation was observed between FABP1 expression and inflammation grades in liver tissue (Spearman's r = -0.355, P = 0.017). However, no statistically significant correlation was found with fibrosis (P > 0.05). Serum FABP1 levels in the case group were significantly higher than in the healthy control (HC) group [median: 804.2 (687.8, 939.2) vs. 709.1 (626.2, 807.8) ng/ml, Z = -5.505, P < 0.001] and showed correlations with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST); total bilirubin (TBIL); direct bilirubin (DBIL); albumin (ALB), etc. Its levels progressively increased with the advancement from ASC to CHB, with significant differences compared to the HC group (P < 0.001), especially in ASC patients with high HBV DNA (exceeding 10 IU/ml, P = 0.019), HBeAg positive (P = 0.013) and ALT higher than 0.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)(P = 0.035). Meanwhile, serum FABP1 in CHB patients with higher TBIL(P = 0.005) or the severe CHB were higher (P = 0.002).
Our study demonstrated a significant inverse correlation between FABP1 levels and the severity of inflammation grades in patients with HBV-related liver diseases. Furthermore, elevated serum FABP1 levels were observed in these patients, suggesting its potential as a biomarker for assessing HBV-related liver damage to initiate antiviral therapy. Additionally, further evaluation is required to determine its potential as a biomarker for assessing disease severity.
脂肪酸结合蛋白 1（FABP1）是一种低分子量细胞内蛋白，已被提议作为肝损伤潜在的有用血清生物标志物。然而，在慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）相关肝病中，对其的研究有限。
研究 FABP1 在慢性 HBV 相关肝病患者疾病进展中的诊断潜力。
对 293 例慢性 HBV 相关肝病患者（包括慢性无症状携带者（ASC）和慢性乙型肝炎（CHB））进行前瞻性研究。在入院时采集血清样本并进行部分肝活检，检测 FABP1 水平。
免疫组织化学分析显示 FABP1 在肝细胞中呈丰富的细胞质表达。FABP1 表达与肝组织炎症分级呈显著负相关（Spearman's r = -0.355，P = 0.017）。然而，与纤维化无统计学相关性（P > 0.05）。病例组血清 FABP1 水平明显高于健康对照组[中位数：804.2（687.8，939.2）vs. 709.1（626.2，807.8）ng/ml，Z = -5.505，P < 0.001]，与丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）、总胆红素（TBIL）、直接胆红素（DBIL）、白蛋白（ALB）等呈正相关。其水平随着从 ASC 到 CHB 的进展而逐渐升高，与健康对照组相比差异有统计学意义（P < 0.001），特别是在 HBV DNA 水平超过 10 IU/ml（P = 0.019）、HBeAg 阳性（P = 0.013）和 ALT 高于正常上限 0.5 倍（ULN）（P = 0.035）的 ASC 患者中。同时，CHB 患者中 TBIL 较高（P = 0.005）或严重 CHB 患者的血清 FABP1 水平较高（P = 0.002）。
本研究表明 FABP1 水平与 HBV 相关肝病患者炎症严重程度呈显著负相关。此外，这些患者中存在血清 FABP1 水平升高，提示其可能作为评估 HBV 相关肝损伤以启动抗病毒治疗的生物标志物。此外，需要进一步评估其作为评估疾病严重程度的生物标志物的潜力。
