Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio index is a good noninvasive biomarker for predicting liver fibrosis in Chinese chronic hepatitis B patients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio index (GPRI) can diagnose the extent of liver fibrosis in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. METHODS: This prospective observational study used liver biopsy results as the gold standard to evaluate the ability of GPRI to predict hepatic fibrosis compared with two other markers, the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4). The clinical and demographic factors that affected GPRI, independent of liver fibrosis, were assessed using multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: This study enrolled 312 patients with CHB. GPRI had a significantly positive correlation with liver fibrosis stage and the correlation coefficient was higher than that for APRI and FIB-4. The areas under the receiver operating curves for GPRI for significant fibrosis, bridging fibrosis, and cirrhosis were 0.728, 0.836, and 0.842, respectively. Of the three indices, GPRI had the highest diagnostic accuracy for bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis. Age, elevated AST and elevated total bilirubin levels were independent determinants of increased GPRI. CONCLUSION: GPRI was a more reliable laboratory marker than APRI and FIB-4 for predicting the stage of liver fibrosis in Chinese patients with CHB.