Table 1.
Basic and clinical parameters of F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4 groups of patients selected for the study (N = 115).
Fig 1.
Masson’s trichrome staining for collagen in liver biopsy specimens from patients with HCV infection.
(A) Representative staining image from the group of patients classified as F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4 depends on the degree of fibrosis. (B) Quantification of Masson’s trichrome staining using Image-Pro discovery software. The data are mean ± S.D. in each group. Original magnification, x100.
Fig 2.
Immunohistochemical staining for α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in the liver biopsy sections.
(A) The intensity of α-SMA staining in activated stellate cells coincided with the degree of fibrosis in F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4 group of patients with HCV infection. (B) Quantification of α-SMA staining. The data are mean ± S.D. in each group. Original magnification, x100.
Fig 3.
Parameters to assess the degree hepatic fibrosis.
Blood platelets count (A), serum type IV collagen (B), serum hyaluronic acid (C), and serum OPN (D) levels in F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4 group of patients with HCV infection. Among the 4 biomarkers depicted to assess the stage of hepatic fibrosis, only serum OPN demonstrated a sequential increase from F0 through F4 with a significant difference (P < 0.001) between each group that coincides with the degree of fibrosis.
Fig 4.
Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to evaluate the competence of serum OPN as a diagnostic marker for the degree of hepatic fibrosis in patients with HCV infection.
(A) ROC curves of serum OPN, platelet count, HA, and collagen type IV for discriminating F1 against F2/F3/F4. (B) ROC curves of serum OPN, platelet count, HA, and collagen type IV for discriminating F1/F2 against F3/F4. (C) ROC curves of serum OPN, platelet count, HA, and collagen type IV for discriminating F1/F2/F3 against F4. OPN, osteopontin; HA, hyaluronic acid; F, fibrosis.
Table 2.
Comparison of AUCs for discriminating F1 against F2/F3/F4 in the derivation cohort (N = 65).
Table 3.
Comparison of AUCs for discriminating F1/F2 against F3/F4 in the derivation cohort (N = 65).
Table 4.
Comparison of AUCs for discriminating F1/F2/F3 against F4 in the derivation cohort (N = 65).
Table 5.
Comparison of AUCs for discriminating hepatic fibrosis stage in the validation cohort (N = 39).
Table 6.
Comparison of AUCs for discriminating hepatic fibrosis stage in the whole cohort (N = 104).