Abstract

Current widely used semiquantitative histological assessment methods are insensitive to identify subtle changes of liver fibrosis. Therefore, to precisely assess therapeutic efficacy on chronic hepatitis B (CHB), we explored the utility of qFibrosis (a fully-quantitative morphometric method employing second harmonic generation/two photon excitation fluorescence) in liver fibrosis evaluation. Fibrosis changes were evaluated by Ishak fibrosis scoring and qFibrosis in CHB patients with paired liver biopsies before and after 78 weeks’ antiviral therapy. A total of 162 patients with qualified paired biopsies were enrolled. Ishak fibrosis scoring revealed that 42.6% (69/162) of the patients achieved fibrosis regression (≥1-point decrease), 51.9% (84/162) remained stable, and 5.5% (9/162) showed progression (≥1-point increase). qFibrosis showed similar trends in the groups of regression and progression patients as evaluated by Ishak. However, in Ishak stable patients, qFibrosis revealed hitherto undetected changes, allowing for further subcategorization into regression (“Regression by qFibrosis”; 40/84, 47.6%), stable (29/84, 34.5%), and progression (“Progression by qFibrosis”; 15/84, 17.9%) groups. These newly fine-tuned categories were supported by changes of morphological parameters of fibrosis, collagen percentage area, and liver stiffness measurements. In conclusion, qFibrosis can be used to quantitatively identify subtle changes of liver fibrosis in CHB patients after antiviral therapy.

Details

Title
Quantitative assessment of liver fibrosis (qFibrosis) reveals precise outcomes in Ishak “stable” patients on anti-HBV therapy
Author
Sun, Yameng 1 ; Zhou, Jialing 1 ; Wu, Xiaoning 1 ; Chen, Yongpeng 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Piao, Hongxin 3 ; Lu, Lungen 4 ; Ding, Huiguo 5 ; Yuemin Nan 6 ; Jiang, Wei 7 ; Wang, Tailing 8 ; Liu, Hui 9 ; Ou, Xiaojuan 1 ; Wee, Aileen 10 ; Theise, Neil D 11 ; Jia, Jidong 1 ; You, Hong 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Liver Research Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Liver Cirrhosis, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Disease, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China 
2  Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China 
3  Infectious Disease Department, Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University, Yanji, China 
4  Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China 
5  Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China 
6  Department of Traditional and Western Medical Hepatology, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China 
7  Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China 
8  Pathology Department, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China 
9  Pathology Department, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China 
10  Department of Pathology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore 
11  Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA 
Pages
1-11
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Feb 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21179-2
ProQuest document ID
2002200590
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.