Author(s)

Zhi Yan, Yingli He, Qian Li, Meiling Cui, Ke Wang, Tianyan Chen, Hongli Liu, Ying-Ren Zhao

Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.
Hepatology Institution, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.

Background: Accumulating evidence has suggested that cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) enters the circulation following cell apoptosis or necrosis. An increased level of cf-DNA fragments has been found in the blood of mice with drug-induced liver damage. We sought to determine the role of cf-DNA in hepatocellular damage. Methods: Plasma samples were collected from 204 patients with hepatitis. The patients were divided into three groups according to liver pathologic characteristics: with chronic hepatitis (CH) and compensated liver cirrhosis (LC) (the group 1); with decompensated liver cirrhosis (DLC) (the group 2); with liver failure (LF), acute hepatitis (AH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (the group 3). The cf-DNA was extracted with the phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (PCI) method and the plasma cf-DNA was quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) for β-globin. The cf-DNA copies were converted to log2 values for comparison. Results: Cf-DNA was detected in all the 3 groups. The group 3 had a significantly higher cf-DNA level than the other two groups (17.70 ± 1.79, P = 0.002). The level of plasma cf-DNA was correlated with the baseline aniline transaminase (ALT) and aspertate transaminase (AST) activities (P < 0.005). The cf-DNA concentration in patients with cirrhosis was correlated with the model of end-stage liver disease-Na (MELD-Na) score and the ALT and AST activities. Correlation of the cf-DNA level with laboratory parameters, such as bilirubin and international normalized ratio (INR), were found in patients with high cf-DNA levels (cf-DNA > 19.5), or with severe hepatocellular damage (ALT > 500 U/L). Conclusion: Plasma cell-free DNA may be a new promising, independent, non-invasive biomarker for hepatocellular damage.

Hepatocellular Damage; Cell-Free DNA

Yan, Z. , He, Y. , Li, Q. , Cui, M. , Wang, K. , Chen, T. , Liu, H. and Zhao, Y. (2012) A New Biomarker for Hepatocellular Damage: Plasma Cell-Free DNA. Advances in Anthropology, 2, 214-220. doi: 10.4236/aa.2012.24023.