New scoring system combining the FIB-4 index and cytokeratin-18 fragments for predicting steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Purpose: To establish a new scoring system as a noninvasive tool for predicting steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: A total of 170 patients histologically diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (n = 130) or nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) (n = 40) were enrolled. We analyzed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and performed multivariate analysis to predict steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis.

Results: Multivariate analysis showed that cytokeratin-18 fragment (CK18-F) levels (≥278 U/L) (odds ratio [OR], 4.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42–14.00; p = 0.010) and the FIB-4 index (≥1.46) (OR, 4.54; 95% CI, 1.93–29.50; p = 0.004) were independently associated with prediction of NASH. We then established a new scoring system (named the FIC-22 score) for predicting NASH using CK18-F levels and FIB-4 index. The areas under the ROC curve (AUROCs) of the FIC-22 score and NAFIC score were 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75–0.89) and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.62–0.78) (p = 0.044). Additionally, the AUROC of the FIC-22 score for predicting the presence of fibrosis (F ≥ 1) was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.70–0.85).

Conclusions: In patients with NAFLD, the FIC-22 score had high predictive accuracy not only for steatohepatitis but also for the presence of liver fibrosis.

Keywords:

• Cytokeratin-18 fragments
• FIB-4 index
• nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• nonalcoholic fatty liver
• nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
• FIC-22 score

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Funding

There was no grant support or other financial support for this study.