Significant Correlation Between Grip Strength and m2bpgi in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases

We sought to compare the impact upon grip strength (GS) between the Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) and the Fibrosis-4 (FIB4) index in chronic liver disease (CLD) patients (n = 376: 171 males and 205 females, and 137 liver cirrhosis (LC) cases (36.4%)). Factors linked to the low GS (<26 kg in male and <18 kg in female) were also investigated using univariate and multivariate analyses. The median GS in males was 35.5 kg, while that in females was 21.1 kg. The median M2BPGi was 1.11 cutoff index, whereas the median FIB4 index was 2.069. In both male (P < 0.0001) and female (P = 0.0001), GS in LC patients was significantly lower than that in non-LC patients. In males, M2BPGi (r = −0.4611, P < 0.0001) and the FIB4 index (r = −0.4556, P < 0.0001) significantly correlated with GS. Similarly, in females, M2BPGi (r = −0.33326, P < 0.0001) and our FIB4 index (r = −0.26388, P = 0.0001) also significantly correlated with GS. In the multivariate analyses of factors linked to the low GS, independent factors were: M2BPGi (P = 0.0003) and skeletal muscle index (P = 0.0007) in males, and age (P < 0.0001) and serum albumin level (P = 0.0484) in females. In conclusion, liver fibrosis markers were well-correlated with GS in CLD patients. In particular, M2BPGi can be helpful for predicting the low GS in male patients.