Accurate diagnosis of stages of hepatic fibrosis by measuring levels of serum ferritin

  Objective   To find the relationship between serum levels of serum ferritin (SF), hyaluronic acid (HA), type Ⅲ procollagen (PCⅢ), laminin (LN), type Ⅳ collagen (Ⅳ-C) and heaptic fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease as well as to determine their value in clinical practice.

  Methods   69 serum samples from patients with chronic liver disease were tested with RIA for serum ferritin and fibrosis indexes assays including HA, LN, PCⅢ and Ⅳ-C.50 of the patients with serum samples performed liver biopsy and the biopsy material were examined pathomorphologically. Serumferritin and fibrosis were compared according to fibrosis stage.

  Results   In the 69 serum samples from patients with chronic liver disease, the concentration of serum ferritin had significant correlation with the levels of fibrosis indexes due to the increase of degree of chronic liver disease. The relation indexes to HA, PCⅢ, LN and Ⅳ-C were 0.452, 0.306, 0.318, 0.324 respectively. The levels of serum ferritin were elevated due to increase of hepatic fibrosis stages (from S1 to S4). The relation indexes to the degree of hepatic fibrosis (S) is 0.656.

  Conclusion   Serum ferritin and serum fibrosis indexes play an important indicative role in diagnosing hepatic fibrosis degree. However, as diagnosis markers they should be combined with liver function ultrasonography liver pathological diagnosis and clinical features.