Objective: To assess the correlation of routine blood and serum biochemical indices with liver histology, and identify the sensitive non-invasive ones indicative of liver inflammation and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
Methods: A total of 252 patients were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. The indices including the patients' age, gender, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin, globulin, total bilirubin, prothrombin time (PT) and its activity (PTA), WBC, and platelet count were analyzed statistically.
Results: The status of liver inflammation was correlated to patients' routine blood indices (P<0.05). Serum AST, total bilirubin, WBC, and platelet count was related significantly to the degree of liver inflammation, but serum ALT and AST alone did not describe exactly the degree of liver inflammation. The status of liver fibrosis was independent of patients' serum ALT, but correlated to other routine blood indices (P<0.05). The patients' age, serum AST, total bilirubin and platelet count had significant relation to the stage of liver fibrosis, and the age, blood PT, total bilirubin and platelet count were significant relevant indices for early liver cirrhosis, and their sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 31.5%, 94.4%, 60.7%, 83.3% and 80.7%, respectively.
Conclusions: Single examination of serum ALT and AST does not help much to predict the status of liver test in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Serum AST, total bilirubin, WBC and platelet count are associated with the degree of liver inflammation. The patients' age, serum total bilirubin, AST and platelet count are relevant indices for liver fibrosis, and patients' age, serum total bilirubin, PT, and platelet count provide valuable assistance in confirmation of early liver cirrhosis with high specificity, but not so for screening purpose.