Abstract

Gelsolin, an actin-binding protein, which serves as a substrate of caspase in tissue injury has been proposed as a prognostic marker in acute liver injury, but its relationship with human hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatitis at various stages is still unclear. This study was conducted in order to investigate the predictive value of serum gelsolin in HBV-related chronic liver disease. The observation group included 101 patients with HBV-related chronic liver disease and 96 healthy adults were selected as the control group. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)method was used to detect the gelsolin level in the serum. The concentration of serum gelsolin level of the observation group (54.099 ± 23.688 µg/ml) was much lower (P = 0.000) than that of the control group (186.372 ± 37.549 µg/ml). The concentration of serum gelsolin in chronic HBV hepatitis patients (64.158 ± 21.389 µg/ml), liver cirrhosis patients (50.067 ± 21.658 µg/ml) and acute-on-chronic liver failure patients (37.012 ± 21.231 µg/ml) was considerably different (P =0.013) and decreased as the severity of the pathogenetic condition increased. Serum gelsolin levels of patients with HBV-related chronic liver disease had negative correlations with model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores (r = -0.348, P = 0.001) and Child-Pugh scores (r = -0.487, P = 0.001). The serum gelsolin level may be a potential marker of the severity of hepatic injury.

Key words: Gelsolin, hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related chronic liver disease, predictive value.