The Impact of Chronic Liver Diseases on the Level of Heart-Type Fatty Acid-Binding Protein (H-FABP) Concentrations

Objectives:heart-type fatty acid binding-protein (h-fabp) has been reported to be a potential novel biochemical marker for the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (ami). the presence of h-fabp in the liver has not been reported. the aim of this study was to compare the effect of chronic liver diseases on the level of h-fabp concentrations.methods:the effects of chronic liver diseases including infective hepatitis and cirrhosis on the concentration of h-fabp was studied in a small group of patients (n=10, mean age ±sd = 58.33 ± 7.19 years). the serum concentrations of the following markers were measured: h-fabp, alanine aminotransferase (alt) and bilirubin and compared with a reference control group (20 healthy blood donors, mean age ±sd = 63.8 ±8.01).results:the serum concentrations of these markers in the control group as compared to patients with chronic liver disease were as follows (mean ± sd): h-fabp = 6.86 ±2.21 μg/l versus 6.44 ±3.06 μg/l (p = ns); alt = 29.8 ±14.7 u/l versus alt = 198.67 ±122.89 u/l (p < 0.0005) and bilirubin = 9.6 ±4.0 μmol/l versus bilirubin = 100.89 ±87.85 μmol/l (p < 0.0001).conclusion:these data illustrate clearly that there is no significant interference with the normal concentration of h-fabp in the presence of liver diseases, despite the significant elevation of liver enzymes and proteins. these data may support a useful role of h-fabp for the diagnosis of myocardial injury in patients with liver diseases