Relationship between hepatic CTGF expression and routine blood tests at the time of liver transplantation for biliary atresia: hope or hype for a biomarker of hepatic fibrosis

Figures & data

Table 1 Summary of dependent variables at the time of liver transplantation

Variable	Mean ± SEM	Median	Minimum	Maximum
AST (U/L)	264 ± 39	211	67	960
ALT (U/L)	181 ± 35	139	39	894
ALP (U/L)	647 ± 65	665	81	1513
GGT (U/L)	282 ± 61	209	15	825
TB (mg/dL)	14 ± 1.8	13	1.4	34
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)	9 ± 2	7.6	0.1	23
Total protein (mg/dL)	5.8 ± 0.2	5.8	2.2	7.3
Albumin (mg/dL)	2.9 ± 0.1	3.1	1	3.9
Prothrombin time (seconds)	16.8 ± 0.5	16.7	12.7	24.5
International normalized ratio	1.5 ± 0.05	1.5	1.1	2.2
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	10 ± 0.3	10.2	7.2	12.9
Hematocrit (29.0%–41.0%)	31 ± 0.8	31.5	22.7	40
WBC (6.0–17.5) × 10^9/L	11 ± 0.9	1.3	1.7	20.5
Platelets (150–450) × 10^9/L	219 ± 28	214	54	780

Notes: Results of the blood tests performed (Variable column) at the time of liver transplantation were retrieved from University of Florida transplant database. GraphPad was used to generate the summary of descriptive statistics.

Abbreviations: AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; GGT, gamma-glutamyltransferase; SEM, standard error of the mean; TB, total bilirubin; WBC, white blood cell count.

Table 2 Correlational analysis of routinely performed blood tests (dependent variables) and P-CTGF expression

Variable	Kendall tau (τ) rank correlation coefficient (P-CTGF)	P-value
AST	0.48	0.0282
ALT	0.36	0.0998
ALP	0.06	0.7839
GGT	−0.33	0.1797
Total bilirubin	0.31	0.1682
Direct bilirubin	0.29	0.1916
Total protein	0.02	0.9452
Albumin	0	1.0000
Prothrombin time	−0.15	0.4908
International normalized ratio	−0.11	0.6243
Hemoglobin	0.11	0.6304
Hematocrit	0.22	0.3348
WBC	−0.18	0.4106
Platelets	−0.33	0.1314

Notes: Hepatic CTGF expression in BA was determined by immunostaining of liver-explants (n = 26) by using commercially available primary antibodies. Means of color pixel histograms representing the intensities of P-CTGF expression was determined by ImageJ software. Kendall tau (τ) rank correlation coefficients (middle column) were then determined for the mean intensities of P-CTGF and blood tests performed at the time of LT (left-hand column).

Abbreviations: AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; BA, biliary atresia; CTGF, connective tissue growth factor; GGT, gamma-glutamyltransferase; LT, liver transplantation; P-CTGF, portal CTGF; WBC, white blood cell count.

Table 3 Correlational analysis of dependent variables and L-CTGF expression

Dependent variable	Correlation coefficient (L-CTGF)	P-value
AST	0.09	0.6
ALT	0.21	0.3
ALP	0.09	0.6
GGT	0.11	0.6
Total bilirubin	0.03	0.8
Direct bilirubin	0.05	0.8
Total protein	0.29	0.1
Albumin	0.13	0.5
Prothrombin time	−0.15	0.4
International normalized ratio	−0.14	0.5
Hemoglobin	0.38	0.08
Hematocrit	0.52	0.02
WBC	−0.52	0.02
Platelets	−0.36	0.09

Notes: Immunostaining and hepatic L-CTGF expressions were determined as outlined in Table 2. Using SAS statistical software, Kendall tau (τ) rank correlation coefficients (middle column) were determined for the intensities of L-CTGF and blood tests performed at the time of liver transplantation (left-hand column).

Abbreviations: AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; GGT, gamma-glutamyltransferase; L-CTGF, lobular connective tissue growth factor; WBC, white blood cell count.