The role of blood fucose as an additional predictor of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV infection

Introduction. Chronic hepatitis C is a widespread condition and poses severe burden on public health. Given the high relevance of chronic hepatitis C, the search for new prognostic markers of liver fibrosis progression is an important area of research.

Aim. To evaluate the clinical significance of fucose in patients with chronic HCV infection with various stages of liver fibrosis.

Methods. The study included 77 patients with chronic HCV infection (chronic hepatitis with various stages of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis of the liver). The study evaluated parameters of complete blood count, coagulation tests, biochemical blood analysis (including fucose) according to the stages of fibrosis (or cirrhosis). The statistical analysis was performed in R 4.3.2. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results. Blood fucose in patients with severe stages of liver fibrosis (or cirrhosis) – 18.3 (14.7; 20.7) mg/dl (compared to stages F0-F2 – 7.5 (6.7; 10.3) mg/dl, p < 0.00001). The fucose concentration correlated with a number of laboratory parameters: erythrocytes (p < 0.001), hemoglobin (p < 0.01), platelets (p < 0.001), average hemoglobin concentration in erythrocyte (p < 0.01), alkaline phosphatase (p < 0.05), albumin (p < 0.001), LDH (p < 0.05), but not with ALT and AST levels (p > 0.05).

Conclusion. Fucose concentration in blood was significantly higher in patients with severe stages of fibrosis or liver cirrhosis. Absence of correlation between blood fucose and cytolytic syndrome allows to use it as a potential additional predictor of liver fibrosis, especially in cases where the results of liver elastography may be questioned.

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