Pham TTT, Ho DT, Phan HT, Nguyen TB, Nguyen KM. Assessing the role of Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B. World J Hepatol 2025; 17(5): 106916 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i5.106916]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Khue M Nguyen, Research Fellow, Senior Researcher, Department of Genetics, Ho Chi Minh University of Science, 227 Nguyen Van Cu, District 5, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam. minhkhuenguyen8888@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Prospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Hepatol. May 27, 2025; 17(5): 106916 Published online May 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i5.106916
Assessing the role of Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B
Thuy T T Pham, Dat T Ho, Hai T Phan, Toan B Nguyen, Khue M Nguyen
Thuy T T Pham, Dat T Ho, Department of Hepatology, Medic Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam
Hai T Phan, Department of Imaging Diagnostic, Medic Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Viet Nam
Toan B Nguyen, Department of Laboratory, Medic Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam
Khue M Nguyen, Department of Genetics, Ho Chi Minh University of Science, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam
Khue M Nguyen, Department of Scientific Affairs, Sysmex Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam
Author contributions: Pham TTT, Ho DT contributed to conceptualization and design; Nguyen KM, Pham TTT, and Ho DT contributed to material preparation, data acquisition, and analysis; Nguyen TB managed laboratory test performance, logistics and adminstration; Nguyen KM developed draft manuscript; Phan HT managed the fibroscan technique and supevised adminstration; Pham TTT, Ho DT, and Nguyen KM contributed equally to this study; All authors contributed to writing-revision and approved to submit the final version.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Medic Medical Center (No: 03/2020/HDDD/YTHH, issued on August 24th 2020).
Informed consent statement: Waiver request for Informed Consent for study utilizing residual blood samples.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Khue Minh Nguyen is a Sysmex employee.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 statement.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at minhkhuenguyen8888@gmail.com. No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Khue M Nguyen, Research Fellow, Senior Researcher, Department of Genetics, Ho Chi Minh University of Science, 227 Nguyen Van Cu, District 5, Ho Chi Minh 700000, Viet Nam. minhkhuenguyen8888@gmail.com
Received: March 11, 2025 Revised: April 7, 2025 Accepted: May 7, 2025 Published online: May 27, 2025 Processing time: 77 Days and 15.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The Mac-2 binding protein glycosylated isomer (M2BPGi) is a serum marker for fibrosis that correlates with the fibrosis stages in various liver diseases.
AIM
To examine the M2BPGi’s threshold for staging fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and its changes during treatment.
METHODS
This was a prospective, longitudinal study. A total of 348 eligible patients were recruited from the Hepatology Department, Medic Medical Center between March 2020 and December 2023. Liver enzyme tests, platelet counts, M2BPGi levels, and FibroScan were conducted at baseline and at 3-month intervals until six months post-treatment. Correlation plots of M2BPGi, FibroScan, and the other parameters were generated. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed for M2BPGi and the other parameters to evaluate their performance.
RESULTS
M2BPGi levels correlated well with FibroScan results and increased as the fibrosis stage advanced. The median M2BPGi levels at the different stages of fibrosis showed statistically significant differences. The cut-off values of M2BPGi for diagnosing significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2), advanced fibrosis (F3), and cirrhosis (F4) were determined to be 1.08, 1.4, and 1.52, respectively. In the context of fibrosis regression in CHB patients during the first 6-month of treatment, M2BPGi levels appeared to decrease before this pattern occurred in the FibroScan results.
CONCLUSION
M2BPGi levels were strongly correlated with FibroScan. M2BPGi can be used to assess liver fibrosis, and to serve as a tool for monitoring fibrosis regression in CHB patients undergoing treatment.
Core Tip: The study highlights the innovative use of the Mac-2 binding protein glycosylated isomer (M2BPGi) as a non-invasive serum marker for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B. It establishes specific cut-off values for M2BPGi to distinguish between significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2), advanced fibrosis (F3), and cirrhosis (F4). The research demonstrates a strong correlation between M2BPGi levels and transient elastography results, suggesting its reliability. Moreover, the study reveals M2BPGi’s potential in monitoring fibrosis regression during antiviral treatment, offering a valuable tool for clinical practice, particularly when advanced imaging options are unavailable.
