Serum hyaluronic acid as a predictor of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection.

Chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Several studies investigated the diagnostic and prognostic value of some biochemical markers to detect the hepatic fibrosis and found a correlation between serum markers and hepatic fibrosis. Among them serum hyaluronic acid (HA) has been identified as a potential marker of fibrosis or cirrhosis in different studies. A prospective study in 60 subjects was conducted to evaluate the association between serum HA and hepatic fibrosis. Thirty consecutive patients with chronic HBV or HCV infection undergoing liver biopsy were studied. Sera were obtained for HA using enzyme linked protein binding assay. Patients with hepatic fibrosis had higher serum HA concentration compared with healthy subjects (236.65 ± 227.07 vs. 23.32 ± 14.22 respectively, p<0.001). Correlation was found between high serum HA concentration and increasing degree of hepatic fibrosis (R-0.322 and p<0.041). This study had shown a good correlation between serum HA and different stages of hepatic fibrosis. So serum HA may be used as a useful marker of hepatic fibrosis.