Correlation between platelet indices and liver pathological staging: an analysis of 167 patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the values of aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index( APRI) and alanine aminotransferase to platelet ratio index( BPRI) for the prediction of pathological changes in liver tissue in patients with chronic hepatitis B( CHB). Methods A total of 167 CHB patients who visited the People's Hospital of Liuzhou from February 2004 to February 2014 were collected. Liver biopsy,routine blood test,and liver function test were performed,and then the correlation between APRI / BPRI and liver pathology was analyzed.The Mann- Whitney U test was applied for comparison of continuous data between groups,and the receiver operating characteristic( ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive values of APRI and BPRI for liver pathological staging. Results APRI was compared between G0,G1,G2,G3,and G4 groups with different liver inflammation grades,and the G1 group had a significantly different APRI value than the G2 and G3 groups( both P < 0. 05); the G0- 1 group had a significantly different APRI value than the G2- 4 group( P < 0. 05). BPRI was also compared between these groups,and it differed significantly between the G0 group and G4 group and between the G1 group and G2 group( both P < 0. 05); the G0- 1 group had a significantly different BPRI value than the G2- 4 group( P < 0. 05). APRI and BPRI were compared between each two of S0,S1,S2,S3,and S4 groups,and they showed significant differences between the S2 and S3 groups( P <0. 05). The areas under the ROC curve of APRI and BPRI for predicting liver inflammation G2- 4 were 0. 748 and 0. 736,respectively( 95% CI: 0. 669- 0. 827 and 0. 653- 0. 819,respectively; both P < 0. 000 1); the optimal cut- off values for APRI and BPRI to predict liver inflammation G2- 4 were 0. 601 and 0. 630,respectively,with sensitivity,specificity,and Youden index of 63. 6% /82. 7%,74. 5% /59. 6%,and 39. 0% /42. 4%,respectively. Conclusion APRI and BPRI can be used to predict liver inflammatory activity in CHB patients.