Correlation between serum levels of complement C5a and liver fibrosis markers in patients with obstructive jaundice / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the change in the serum level of complement C5a after obstruction removal and its correlation with the serum levels of liver fibrosis markers in patients with obstructive jaundice. MethodsA total of 164 patients with obstructive jaundice who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and obstruction removal in our hospital from June 2012 to June 2014 were enrolled, and 20 healthy adults were enrolled as the control group. The serum levels of complement C5a and four liver fibrosis markers, type Ⅳ collagen (ⅣP), pre-type Ⅲ collagen (PⅢP), laminin (LN), and hyaluronic acid (HA), were measured. The t-test was applied for comparison between groups, and linear correlation analysis was applied for correlation analysis. ResultsCompared with the healthy controls, the patients with obstructive jaundice had a significantly higher serum level of complement C5a (89.7±30.2 vs 62.2±21.1 ng/L; t=2.213, P=0.016), and the serum level of complement C5a was closely related to the course of obstruction (r=0.954, P=0003). The serum level of complement C5a decreased significantly after obstruction removal (66.2±26.3 ng/L; t=1.998, P=0.021). Before obstruction removal, the serum level of complement C5a increased synchronously with those of ⅣP (r=0.976, P＜0.001), PⅢP (r=0972, P＜0.001), LN (r=0.915, P=0.039), and HA (r=0.962, P=0.002); after obstruction removal, the serum level of complement C5a decreased synchronously with those of ⅣP (r=0.965, P=0.001), PⅢP (r=0.912, P=0.003), and HA (r=0.875, P=0023). ConclusionComplement C5a may be involved in the development of liver fibrosis induced by obstructive jaundice.