Clinical implications of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive Mac‐2‐binding protein in treatment‐naïve chronic hepatitis B

Aim To examine the relationship between serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive Mac‐2‐binding protein (WFA + ‐M2BP) levels and liver histological findings for patients with treatment naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 189 treatment naïve‐CHB patients were analyzed. We examined the effect of pretreatment serum WFA + ‐M2BP levels on histological findings compared with other laboratory markers, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index, Fibrosis‐4 index, platelet count, AST to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, and hyaluronic acid as liver fibrosis markers, and AST value, ALT value, and serum interferon‐γ‐inducible protein‐10 level as liver inflammation markers. Results The WFA + ‐M2BP value ranged from 0.3 cut‐off index (COI) to 12.9 COI (median value, 1.2 COI). The degree of liver fibrosis was significantly stratified according to WFA + ‐M2BP level in each group except for groups F2 and F3 and the degree of liver inflammation activity was significantly stratified according to WFA + ‐M2BP level in each group. For predicting F4, WFA + ‐M2BP level yielded the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) with a level of 0.87 and for predicting advanced liver fibrosis (≥F3) and significant liver fibrosis (≥F2), WFA + ‐M2BP level yielded the second highest AUROCs (both, 0.77) among six fibrotic markers. For predicting severe (A3) or significant liver inflammation activity (≥A2), AUROCs of WFA + ‐M2BP level were 0.78 and 0.76. Conclusion The WFA + ‐M2BP level can be a useful marker for assessing liver histological findings in patients with treatment‐naïve CHB, although it has several limitations.