Background@#Mac-2
binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) has been established as a non-invasive
biomarker for
liver fibrosis. We evaluated the diagnostic
efficacy of M2BPGi compared with those of other
liver fibrosis markers in
liver fibrosis in
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (
NAFLD). @*
Methods@#We analyzed
serum M2BPGi levels in 113
NAFLD patients. A
pathologist graded
liver fibrosis histopathologically. The diagnostic efficacies of
serum M2BPGi and other
liver fibrosis markers (
aspartate aminotransferase to
platelet ratio index,
fibrosis index based on four factors, and
NAFLD fibrosis score [NFS]) were evaluated using correlation, area under the
ROC curve (
AUC),
logistic regression, and C-
statistics. @*Results@#
Serum M2BPGi level and other
liver fibrosis markers showed a moderate correlation with
fibrosis grade. The
AUC values of M2BPGi were 0.761, 0.819, 0.866, and 0.900 for diagnosing
fibrosis (F) > 0, F > 1, F > 2, and F > 3, respectively.
Logistic regression analysis showed M2BPGi as the only independent factor associated with F > 2 and F > 3. Although C-
statistics showed that NFS was the best diagnostic factor for F > 2 and F > 3, M2BPGi with NFS had an increased C-
statistics value, indicating that it is a better diagnostic model. @*Conclusions@#The
serum M2BPGi level increased with
liver fibrosis severity and could be a good
biomarker for diagnosing advanced
fibrosis and
cirrhosis in
NAFLD patients. A well-controlled,
prospective study with a larger
sample size is needed to validate the diagnostic
power of M2BPGi and other
fibrosis markers in
NAFLD.