CORRELATION OF SERUM HYALURONIC ACID (HA) AND lAMININ (LAM) WITH STANDARD LIVER HISTOLOGYAND HISTOMORPHOMETRY-PROVEN LIVER FIBROSIS IN CHILDREN AFFECTED BY CHRONIC HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) INFECTION

摘要

Non invasive assessment of the progression of liver disease in chronic HBV infection is crucial in cihldhood, where long follow-ups are expected. Value of several markers of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and portal hypertension in children with chronic HBV infection however is at present either questioned (i.e. N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen) or poorly known (i.e.HA, LAM). WE therefore studied by RIA method the serum levels of HA(1) and Laminin Pepsin REsistent Fragment PI (LAM P1) (2) in relation to: A) standard hystologic grading of liver disease severity (Student t), B) degree of portal tract fibrosis (um2) assessed by computerized histomorphometry using a Zeiss Kontron Videoplan analysis system (Pearson correl.) in 53 children with chronic B hepatitis (age 7.7± 3.9 y; range 2-13 y), 13 HBV carriers and 18 age and sex matched healthy controls.Results:Conclusions: HA serum levels may prove a useful quantitative marker for evaluating histologic liver CIR and fibrosis in children with chronic HBV infection. Serum levels of laminin, a constituent of basement membranes in the perisinusoida 1 space, probably reflect several degrees of portal hypertension, rather than liver CIR itself. Correlations between LAM PI serum levels and hepatic sinusoids capillarization are presently under study in our patients.1) Hepatoogy, 1985,5:638-42. 1)J Clin Chem Clin Biochem, 1985, 23:572-3