Cytokeratin 18 can help predict liver fibrosis in HCV infected patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: To investigate the predictive values of cytokeratin 18 for liver fibrosis in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: 252 HCV-infected patients with T2DM between January 2012 and August 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Pearson/spearman correlation analysis was used to detect the correlation in the entire cohort. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify independent predictors and logistic regression was for establishing models. Combination models that incorporated CK18 and other methods (i.e. transient elastography, aspartate transaminase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4)] were developed in a training cohort of 132 patients. Performance of models was evaluated through discrimination ability and clinical benefits. An internal validation was conducted in 120 consecutive patients. Results: CK18 was found significantly associated with fibrosis scores (r = 0.452, P