Correlation of four potential biomarkers of liver fibrosis with liver function and grade of hepatic fibrosis in a neonatal cholestatic rat model.

The present study investigated the correlation between four serum biomarkers of liver fibrosis, liver function and pathological hepatic fibrosis grade in neonatal cholestatic rats. A total of 38 Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 3 weeks, were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG), control group (CG) and the blank control group (BCG). EG received intragastric administration of 1% alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate, 75 mg/kg, to induce acute cholestasis liver injury, CG and BCG were set as control groups. Blood samples from all groups were collected 48 h following the procedure. The levels of liver function markers, and four biomarkers of liver fibrosis in serum, were measured and sections of liver tissue were stained for pathological analysis. The results of the present study demonstrated that the degree of hepatic fibrosis in EG, in the serum levels or by pathological analysis, was markedly more evident compared with the CG. Several indices of four biomarkers for liver fibrosis in serum were identified and correlated with the levels of liver function markers. The pathological hepatic fibrosis grade was correlated with gamma-glutamyl transferase (gamma-GT) and Hyaluronic acid (HA). Therefore, HA and gamma-GT were positively correlated with the grade of hepatic fibrosis, indicating their efficacy as biomarkers of infantile cholestatic hepatic fibrosis.