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Abstract
Background: Autotaxin (ATX) and its product lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) are considered to be involved in the development of liver cirrhosis and elevated levels of serum ATX have been found in patients with hepatitis C virus associated liver disease. However, the clinical role of systemic ATX in the stages of liver cirrhosis was unknown. So, in our study we investigated the relation between serum ATX levels and severity of cirrhosis as well as assessment of prognosis in cirrhotic patients. Results 90 patients were enrolled. Subjects with liver cirrhosis showed elevated serum levels of ATX as compared to healthy subjects (106+24 mg/l vs. 42.5+11mg/l, P<0.000). Patients with hepatic encephalopathy (P{u200A}={u200A}0.000) and focal lesion (P{u200A}={u200A}0.02) had higher ATX levels than patients without these complications. Low ATX levels were a parameter independently associated with longer overall survival (sensitivity for focal lesion 91% and specificity 65% and sensitivity for encephalopathy 92% and specificity 64% with positive predictive value for focal lesion 70% and for encephalopathy 69%)