Angiopoietin-2 levels correlates with disease activity in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic liver disease in children, ranges from nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We investigated the role of Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) as a biomarker for pediatric NAFLD-related liver damage. Methods We assessed the plasma levels of Ang-2 and cytokeratin-18 (CK18) fragments and their association with histologic activity in 76 children with NAFLD and 28 controls. Results The mean plasma levels of Ang-2 and CK18 were higher in children with NAFLD than in age-matched controls (Ang-2 155.4 ± 72.5 vs 7.5 ± 2.3 ng/mL, p < 0.001; CK18 390.4 ± 145.6 vs 193.9 ± 30.8 IU/L, p < 0.001). Ang-2 was significantly increased ( p < 0.0001) in children with NASH ( N = 41) while CK18 was significantly increased ( p = 0.002) in children with fibrosis ( N = 47). Ang-2 levels accurately predicted NASH (AUROC 0.911; 95% CI 0.844–0.979; p < 0.0001), while CK18 predicted both NASH (AUROC 0.827; 95% CI 0.735–0.919; p < 0.0001) and fibrosis (AUROC 0.724; 95% CI 0.611–0.837; p = 0.001). Ang-2 and CK18 in combination were good predictors of NASH with a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 100%. Conclusions In conclusion, our data suggested Ang-2 as a suitable biomarker of NASH in the pediatric population. However, our findings need external validation in other cohorts. Impact Several circulating factors have been extensively studied as potential biomarkers for NASH. Angiopoietin-2 circulating levels are increased in children with NAFLD and are associated with NASH. Angiopoietin-2 levels are more efficient than CK18 levels at assessing the most severe form of disease, and the combining of these two biomarkers reached a positive predictive value of 100% for NASH.