ArticleClinical and molecular hepatology2019
Direct-acting antivirals-based therapy decreases hepatic fibrosis serum biomarker microfibrillar-associated protein 4 in hepatitis C patients.
Article in Clinical and molecular hepatology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- FGF7 promotes load-bearing tendon regeneration and suppresses fibrosis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Pathological Changes in Extracellular Matrix Composition Orchestrate the Fibrotic Feedback Loop Through Macrophage Activation in Dupuytren's Contracture.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Standardizing urethral stricture models in rats: a comprehensive study on histomorphologic and molecular approach.International urology and nephrology · 2024Article
- Pathological investigations and correlation research of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 and tropoelastin in oral submucous fibrosis.BMC oral health · 2021Article
- Molecular Crosstalk between the Hepatitis C Virus and the Extracellular Matrix in Liver Fibrogenesis and Early Carcinogenesis.Cancers · 2021Review
- Circadian, Week-to-Week, and Physical Exercise-Induced Variation of Serum Microfibrillar-Associated Protein 4.Biomarker insights · 2021Article
- Article
- Biomarker microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 for non-invasive diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2019Article
- Real-world single-center experience with direct-acting antivirals for improvement of the liver fibrosis after chronic hepatitis C treatment.Antiviral chemistry & chemotherapyArticle
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
aimsAn estimated 80 million people worldwide are infected with viremic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Even after eradication of HCV with direct acting antivirals (DAAs), hepatic fibrosis remains a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis. Recently, we confirmed the applicability of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) as a serum biomarker for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of MFAP4 as a biomarker of liver fibrosis after HCV eliminating therapy with DAAs.
methodsMFAP4 was measured using an immunoassay in 50 hepatitis C patients at baseline (BL), the end-of-therapy (EoT), and the 12-week follow-up visit (FU). Changes in MFAP4 from BL to FU and their association with laboratory parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), platelets, the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4), and albumin were analyzed.
resultsMFAP4 serum levels were representative of the severity of hepatic fibrosis at BL and correlated well with laboratory parameters, especially APRI (Spearman correlation, R²=0.80). Laboratory parameters decreased significantly from BL to EoT. MFAP4 serum levels were found to decrease from BL and EoT to FU with high statistical significance (Wilcoxon P<0.001 for both).
conclusionOur findings indicate that viral eradication resulted in reduced MFAP4 serum levels, presumably representing a decrease in hepatic fibrogenesis or fibrosis. Hence, MFAP4 may be a useful tool for risk assessment in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis after eradication of the virus.
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