Blood tests can predict the risk of liver cirrhosis

Date:
July 2, 2020
Source:
Karolinska Institutet
Summary:
Repeated measurements of the biomarker FIB-4 in the blood every
few years can predict the risk of developing severe liver disease,
according to a new study. The risk of liver cirrhosis increases
if the levels of this biomarker rise between two testing occasions.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Repeated measurements of the biomarker FIB-4 in the blood every few years
can predict the risk of developing severe liver disease, according to a
new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the Journal
of Hepatology.

The risk of liver cirrhosis increases if the levels of this biomarker
rise between two testing occasions.


==========================================================================
Fat accumulation in the liver is common and is often seen in people
with obesity or diabetes. In the worst case, fatty liver can lead to
cirrhosis or liver cancer. It is unusual for this to occur but in those affected, symptoms often only occur at a late stage when there is no
available treatment.

"It is difficult to predict the risk of cirrhosis, although you can get
some guidance in using regular blood tests that measure liver damage,"
says lead author Hannes Hagstrom, hepatologist at the Karolinska
University Hospital and docent at Karolinska Institutet. "Therefore,
we wanted to investigate whether what is known as the FIB-4 score can
increase the accuracy of the identification of people at high risk, in particular with information from repeated measurements." The new study
shows that repeated sampling and measurements of the FIB-4 score, rather
than measuring FIB-4 on one sole occasion, can increase the prediction
of future liver cirrhosis. The researchers used the AMORIS cohort that
contains laboratory test data in a very large population, surveyed
between 1985 and 1996. More than 40,000 people had blood test data for
FIB-4 from several sampling occasions. They were followed in national
registers to identify those who developed cirrhosis after up to 27 years.

The main finding was that the risk increases in people where the FIB-4
score rises between two testing occasions and decreases when it falls. In
this way, almost half of those who were later affected by cirrhosis
could be identified.

One problem, however, was that the accuracy was relatively low, with a
risk of false positive tests.

The study also established that it took a long time to develop cirrhosis,
and that it may be enough to recalculate the FIB-4 score at intervals
of several years.

"We show that this biomarker is useful for identifying people in
primary care with an increased risk of cirrhosis who may need to be
more carefully investigated and to exclude people who do not need this,"
says Dr Hagstrom.

"But the method needs to be further developed to reduce the risk of
false positive findings, which can lead to unnecessary examinations in
healthy people."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Karolinska_Institutet. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Hannes Hagstro"m, Mats Talba"ck, Anna Andreasson, Go"ran Walldius,
Niklas
Hammar. Repeated FIB-4 measurements can help identify individuals
at risk of severe liver disease. Journal of Hepatology, 2020; DOI:
10.1016/ j.jhep.2020.06.007 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200702113722.htm

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