[Quantitative analysis of serum hyaluronic acid and its application in liver disease].

Determination of serum hyaluronic acid (HA) in 191 normal subjects and 170 cases with liver disease found, due to containing a large amount of HA in fetal tissues, serum HA level in neonates still remained relatively high, and decreased gradually with their growth and approximated to adult level by the age of six months. Serum HA level increased significantly in patients with liver disease and showed no change in chronic persistent hepatitis. The gradient trend of increasing serum HA levels in patients with liver disease was acute hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, and cirrhosis of liver. Determination of serum HA would be conducive to evaluation of the degree of liver injuries and could be used in large-scale epidemiological studies and screening-up with low-cost and quickness, with an upper reference value of 117 micrograms/L.