CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE OF SERUM-7S COLLAGEN AND TYPE-VI COLLAGEN LEVELS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF HEPATIC-FIBROSIS

Objective To measure serum 7S collagen (7S-C) and type VI collagen (VI -C) levels by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in Chinese patients with various liver disorders and in CCl4-treated SD rats, and to investigate the si gnificance of the elevated levels of serum 7S-C and VI-C. Methods Seru m 7S-C and VI-C levels were measured in 40 healthy control subjects, 1 68 patients with various liver disorders and non-hepatic diseases, and 52 CCl4-treated SD rats by using RIA which was developed in our hospi tal. Results Serum 7S-C and VI-C were significantly elevated in patien ts with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), liver cirrhosis (LC), hepatic cellular carcinoma (HCC) (P < 0.01 respectively), chronic persistent h epatitis (CPH), and some with non-hepatic diseases (P < 0.05). Serum 7 S-C, serum laminin and hyaluronic acid were well correlated. Serum 7S- C and VI-C were not closely correlated. Both collagens were correlated with serum albumin/globulin ratio, aminotransferase and total bilirub in, not with alkaline phosphatase. In CCl4-treated SD rats, serum 7S c ollagen and type VI collagen levels were correlated with the degree of hepatic fibrosis. Conclusions. Serum 7S collagen and type VI collagen are useful markers for diagnosing liver fibrosis. And the combined me asurement of IV-C, VI-C and other markers of connective tissue metabol ism or biochemical data seems to provide additional information to pre dict progressive hepatic fibrosis.