Clinical implications of serum Mac-2-binding protein (M2BPGi) during regular follow-up of patients with biliary atresia.

PURPOSE: The Mac-2-binding protein glycosylation-modified isomer (M2BPGi) is a new marker for progression of hepatic fibrosis. We examined the relationship between serum M2BPGi levels and liver histological findings in patients with biliary atresia (BA) who were not transplant candidates.

METHODS

Patients with BA who were not transplant candidates with good liver function were included. We examined M2BPGi levels and histological findings in relation to other laboratory markers of liver fibrosis, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index, fibrosis-4 index, and type IV collagen 7s domain. Liver fibrosis was evaluated based on the METVIR score.

RESULTS

37 patients were included. The median age was 18 years (range 3-38 years). M2BPGi values ranged from 0.3 to 6.9 cutoff index (COI) (median 1.6). The degree of liver fibrosis varied with M2BPGi level. For predicting cirrhosis (F4) and advanced liver fibrosis (≥ F3), M2BPGi had higher areas under the curve (AUCs; 0.93, respectively) with cutoff COIs of 1.84 and 1.67, respectively, than for the four conventional markers for fibrosis.

CONCLUSION

M2BPGi is a novel marker for liver fibrosis in patients with BA. It is especially useful for following patients with BA with a native liver and supporting liver biopsy interpretation findings.