Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive human Mac‐2 binding protein in decompensated cirrhosis

Background and Aim An assay for Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive human Mac‐2 binding protein (WFA+‐M2BP) has been reported as a useful non‐invasive marker for the evaluation of the staging of fibrosis in several chronic liver diseases. However, available data on the effect of WFA+‐M2BP level in decompensated cirrhosis patients were limited. It is important that these investigations can validate the diagnostic utility of WFA+‐M2BP in the full range of patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods A multicenter study was conducted at five locations in Japan. A total of 207 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the present study. To determine whether or not the WFA+‐M2BP value was associated with a progression of fibrosis among cirrhosis, this study examined WFA+‐M2BP levels between patients with cirrhosis in the decompensated and compensated groups. Results The numbers and proportions of compensated and decompensated patients were 113 (54.6%) and 94 (45.4%), respectively. The average WFA+‐M2BP levels were 2.22 ± 1.61 in the compensated group and 6.91 ± 5.04 in the decompensated group. Significantly higher WFA+‐M2BP levels were observed in the decompensated group than those in the compensated group (P