The role of serum hyaluronic acid as a marker of hepatic fibrosis in chronic liver disease

Abstract

Among the patients with fibrosis in chronic liver disease, the evaluation of fibrosis progression is important to decide the treatment, and there is a major need for non- invasive markers of liver fibrosis, none are clearly useful today for the diagnosis of early stages of fibrosis. (Opolon et al 2000)

Hyaluronic acid, is a polysaccharide glycosaminoglycan, which is present in the serum in concentration (average 30-40 microgram!L) The serum level of HA is regulated by influx and clearance of the polysaccharide via specific receptors in hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells. High serum levels of H.A are noted in certain liver diseases, especially in cirrhosis when the clearance is impaired, in these sera HA levels can be used to monitoring the development of cirrhosis in patients with chronic liver disease. (Laurent et al, 1996)

Elevation in the semm HA level was closely related to the severity of liver fibrosis. and it is of value in differentiating cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis (Yoslzikazu et a/1996)

Serum H.A levels could be used to monitor patients at risk of progressive fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease, and also serum H.A levels in those patients was useful in controlled clinical trials, as an indicator for the response to antifibrotic therapy. (Wong et a/2000)