The association between FABP7 serum levels with survival and neurological complications in acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure : a nested case–control study

Résumé 0

Background: Acetaminophen (APAP)-induced acute liver failure (ALF) is associated with signifcant mortality due to intracranial hypertension (ICH), a result of cerebral edema (CE) and astrocyte swelling. Brain-type fatty acid-binding protein (FABP7) is a small (15 kDa) cytoplasmic protein abundantly expressed in astrocytes. The aim of this study was to determine whether serum FABP7 levels early (day 1) or late (days 3–5) level were associated with 21-day mortality and/or the presence of ICH/CE in APAP-ALF patients. Methods: Serum samples from 198 APAP-ALF patients (nested case–control study with 99 survivors and 99 non-survivors) were analyzed by ELISA methods and assessed with clinical data from the US Acute Liver Failure Study Group (ALFSG) Registry (1998–2014). Results: APAP-ALF survivors had signifcantly lower serum FABP7 levels on admission (147.9 vs. 316.5 ng/ml, p = 0.0002) and late (87.3 vs. 286.2 ng/ml, p < 0.0001) compared with non-survivors. However, a signifcant association between 21-day mortality and increased serum FABP7 early [log FABP7 odds ratio (OR) 1.16, p = 0.32] and late (log FABP7 ~ OR 1.34, p = 0.21) was not detected after adjusting for signifcant covariates (MELD, vasopressor use). Areas under the receiver-operating curve for early and late multivariable models were 0.760 and 0.892, respectively. In a second analysis, patients were grouped based on the presence (n = 46) or absence (n = 104) of ICH/CE. A signifcant diference in FABP7 levels between patients with or without ICH/CE at early (259.7 vs. 228.2 ng/ml, p = 0.61) and late (223.8 vs. 192.0 ng/ml, p = 0.19) time points was not identifed. Conclusion: Serum FABP7 levels were signifcantly elevated at early and late time points in APAP-ALF non-survivors compared to survivors. However, signifcant diferences in FABP7 levels by 21-day mortality were not ascertained after adjusting for signifcant covariates (refecting severity of illness). Our study suggests that FABP7 may not discriminate between patients with or without intracranial complications.