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Platelet to lymphocyte ratio as a predictive biomarker of liver fibrosis (on elastography) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease

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Abstract

Background

Liver fibrosis is a frequent complication of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Its evaluation is very important for the prognosis of these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of exploiting the platelet to lymphocyte ratio and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as non-invasive predictive markers of liver fibrosis.

Methods

We recruited 120 patients with chronic HCV infection. They were subjected to various clinical investigations to assess the severity of fibrosis. Transient elastography and some serological tests were performed, and the platelet to lymphocyte ratio and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were estimated.

Results

Sixty-four patients had F4 fibrosis (defined by elastography) and their platelet to lymphocyte ratio (69.92 ± 26.47) was lower than in patients with non-F4 fibrosis (95.19 ± 48.15) (p = 0.001). The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio was also estimated, but the difference between the 2 groups of patients was not significant statistically (p = 0.07).

Conclusion

The platelet to lymphocyte ratio can be used as a predictive biomarker of liver fibrosis, unlike the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio which is not predictive of this HCV-related chronic hepatitis complication. More studies are needed to validate this hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Gastroenterology Section, “Gaspare Rodolico” Policlinico Hospital, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 78, 95123, Catania, Italy

    Roberto Catanzaro, Morena Sciuto & Cristina Lanzafame

  2. Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Baskar Balakrishnan

  3. ReGenera R&D International for Aging Intervention & San Babila Clinic, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Marotta

Authors
  1. Roberto Catanzaro
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  2. Morena Sciuto
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  3. Cristina Lanzafame
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  4. Baskar Balakrishnan
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  5. Francesco Marotta
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Correspondence to Roberto Catanzaro.

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RC, MS, CL, BB, and FM declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The study was performed conforming to the Helsinki declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008 concerning human and animal rights, and the authors followed the policy concerning informed consent as shown on Springer.com.

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Catanzaro, R., Sciuto, M., Lanzafame, C. et al. Platelet to lymphocyte ratio as a predictive biomarker of liver fibrosis (on elastography) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease. Indian J Gastroenterol 39, 253–260 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-020-01038-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-020-01038-7

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