Noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis in HIV/HCV-Coinfected patients

Background: Several serum markers reflecting extracellular matrix status have been correlated with liver fibrosis in non-HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. These indexes have been less examined in HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals. alternative to liver biopsy when the degree of liver fibrosis needs to be estimated. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the predictive value of serum markers for liver fibrosis in non-HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HVC). Methods: Serum levels of metalloproteinases I and 2 (MMP-1 and -2), tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloprotemases (TIMP-1), procollagen type III N-terminal peptide (PIIINP), and hyaluronic acid (HA) were measured in non-HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C at the time of obtaining a liver biopsy and before the consideration of anti-hepatitis C therapy. Results: One hundred and nineteen consecutive HIV-HVC coinfected patients were included. TIMP-1 (r = 0.6; P < 0.001), TIMP-1/MMP-1 ratio (r = 0.5; P < 0.001), TIMP-1/MMP-2 ratio (r = 0.3; P < 0.001), MMP-2 (r = 0.2; P = 0.044), PIIINP (r = 0.4; P < 0.00 1), and HA (r = 0.5; P < 0.001) were positively and significantly correlated with the fibrosis stage. In the multivariate analysis, TIMP-1 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.004, 95% confidence interval [Cl]: 1.002 to 1.006, P = 0.00 1) and HA >95 mu g/dL (OR = 6.041, 95% Cl: 1.184 to 30.816, P = 0.03 1) were independently associated with liver fibrosis. The area under the curve of score to discriminate mild (FO-FI) from significant (F2-F4) fibrosis in the received-operating analysis using the variables TIMP-1 and HA was 0.84, with a sensitivity of 72.9% and a specificity of 83.1 %. Conclusion: TIMP-I and HA were quite sensitive and specific for predicting the degree of liver fibrosis in non-HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C. These parameters may become a noninvasive alternative to liver biopsy when the degree of liver fibrosis needs to be estimated.