Correlation Analysis Between Serum FGF19,Caspase-3,GGT Expression Levels with Liver Fibrosis Degree in Children with Biliary Atresia

CHANG Dongzhe; GENG Xianjie; ZHOU Liang; SUN Zhongyuan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2096-305X.2025.01.013

Abstract：Objective To explore the correlation between serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 19(FGF19),cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3(Caspase-3),and glutamate transpeptidase(GGT)with the liver fibrosis degree in children with biliary atresia(BA).Methods A total of 87 children with BA children admitted to Zhengzhou Children's Hospital of Henan Children's Hospital from March 2021 and March 2024 were selected for the study,designated as the BA group,and 70 healthy infants were selected as the control group during the same period.According to the pathological examination results,the children in BA group were separated into a obvious liver fibrosis group(57 cases)and a mild or no fibrosis group(30 cases).The age and gender information of infants in two groups were collected.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was applied to detect serum FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT levels.The liver function and fibrosis indicators were compared between the two groups.Pearson correlation was applied to analyze the correlation between serum FGF19,Caspase-3,GGT levels and liver fibrosis indicators,and the serum FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT levels in BA children with different degrees of liver fibrosis was compared.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was applied to analyze the diagnostic value of serum FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT levels for obvious liver fibrosis in children with BA.Results The serum levels of FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT in the BA group were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05),the levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST),direct bilirubin(DBIL),total bilirubin(TBIL),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),laminin(LN),type Ⅳ collagen(Ⅳ-Col),type Ⅲ procollagen(PCⅢ),and hyaluronic acid(HA)in the BA group were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05),the level of platelet(PLT)was lower than that in the control group(P<0.05),the serum levels of FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT in the BA group were positively correlated with LN,Ⅳ-Col,PCⅢ,HA,and liver fibrosis score(P<0.05),the serum levels of FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT in the obvious liver fibrosis group were higher than those in the mild or no fibrosis group(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of combination of serum FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT levels in diagnosing obvious liver fibrosis in BA patients was higher than that of FGF19 alone(Z=3.349,P=0.001),higher than that of Caspase-3 alone(Z=2.054,P=0.040),and higher than that of GGT alone(Z=1.989,P=0.047).Conclusion The serum levels of FGF19,Caspase-3,and GGT are all elevated in BA patients,which are positively correlated with liver fibrosis indicators.The combined diagnosis for obvious liver fibrosis in BA patients has higher diagnostic value.