Level of high-mobility group box 1 in patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the correlation of serum high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) level with hepatic inflammatory activity, liver fibrosis degree, and liver function parameters in chronic hepatitis B patients. Methods A total of 73 patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis were enrolled as subjects. Liver biopsy was performed to determine inflammatory activity and liver fibrosis degree, liver function parameters and serum HMGB1 level were measured, and the correlation between HMGB1 level and other indices was analyzed. The t-test was used for comparison between two groups, and a linear correlation analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between two indices. Results The patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis had a significantly higher HMGB1 level than the healthy control group (29. 46 ± 7. 54 ng/ml vs 16. 86 ± 3. 48 ng/ml, t = 5. 668, P < 0. 01) . The G3-G4 group had a significantly higher HMGB1 level than the G1-G2 group (t = 4. 441, P < 0. 01) , while there was no significant difference in HMGB1 level between the S1-S2 group and the S3-S4 group (t = 0. 658, P > 0. 05) . Serum HMGB1 level was positively correlated with alanine aminotransferase (r = 0. 256 6, P = 0. 028 4) and aspartate aminotransferase (r = 0. 471 9, P < 0. 000 1) , while it was not correlated with albumin or total bilirubin (both P > 0. 05) . Conclusion Serum HMGB1 level is closely correlated with hepatic inflammatory activity.