Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jun 18, 2016; 8(17): 739-748
Published online Jun 18, 2016. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i17.739
Circulating insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 as prognostic biomarker in liver cirrhosis
Carina Gabriela Correa, Bruno da Silveira Colombo, Marcelo Fernando Ronsoni, Pedro Eduardo Soares e Silva, Leonardo Fayad, Telma Erotides Silva, Letícia Muraro Wildner, Maria Luiza Bazzo, Esther Buzaglo Dantas-Correa, Janaína Luz Narciso-Schiavon, Leonardo de Lucca Schiavon
Carina Gabriela Correa, Bruno da Silveira Colombo, Marcelo Fernando Ronsoni, Pedro Eduardo Soares e Silva, Leonardo Fayad, Telma Erotides Silva, Esther Buzaglo Dantas-Correa, Janaína Luz Narciso-Schiavon, Leonardo de Lucca Schiavon, Division of Gastroenterology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 88.040-001, Brazil
Letícia Muraro Wildner, Maria Luiza Bazzo, Department of Clinical Analysis, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 88.040-970, Brazil
Author contributions: Narciso-Schiavon JL and Schiavon LL designed the research; Correa CG, Colombo BS, Ronsoni MF, Soares e Silva PE, Fayad L, Silva TE and Dantas-Correa EB performed the research; Wildner LM and Bazzo ML contributed with the specific laboratory analysis and sample handling; Correa CG and Schiavon LL analyzed the data and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Federal University of Santa Catarina Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Nothing to report.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at leo-jf@uol.com.br. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Open-Access: 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/
Correspondence to: Dr. Leonardo de Lucca Schiavon, Division of Gastroenterology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Rua Deputado Antonio Edu Vieira 1310, casa 217, Bairro Pantanal, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 88.040-001, Brazil. leo-jf@uol.com.br
Telephone: +55-48-32096854 Fax: +55-48-32096854
Received: February 26, 2016
Peer-review started: February 26, 2016
First decision: March 23, 2016
Revised: May 3, 2016
Accepted: May 17, 2016
Article in press: May 27, 2016
Published online: June 18, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) levels are decreased in cirrhosis and seem to correlate with the intensity of hepatic dysfunction, but its prognostic significance is uncertain. In this prospective cohort study, IGFBP-3 levels correlated with variables associated with the intensity of liver dysfunction in both outpatients with stable cirrhosis and in subjects hospitalized for acute decompensation. IGFBP-3 levels increased significantly after discharge and after liver transplantation. Lower IGFBP-3 levels were associated with poor outcomes in both outpatients with stable cirrhosis and in those hospitalized for acute decompensation, suggesting that it can be used in clinical practice as a prognostic biomarker in cirrhosis.