Liver fibrosis assessment is essential to make a prognosis and to determine the appropriate anti-
fibrosis treatment. Non-invasive
serum markers are widely studied in patients to assess
liver fibrosis due to the limitations of liver biopsy. When using animal models to study the mechanism and intervention of hepatic
fibrosis,
serum markers might be useful for the continuous assessment of
liver fibrosis in individual animals, which could avoid the influence of biological differences between individuals. However, it is unclear whether
serum markers can assess hepatic
fibrosis in the animal model. In the present study, we evaluated and compared the ability of four
serum markers to assess
liver fibrosis in bile duct
ligation mice. According to the stages of
liver fibrosis assessed by pathological changes, mice in this study were divided into five groups (F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4). Subsequently, four
serum markers,
aspartate aminotransferase-to-
alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR),
aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI),
fibrosis index based on the 4 factors (FIB-4), and Forns Index, were calculated for each group. Furthermore, the correlations between
serum markers and pathological stages and the ability of serological markers to evaluate
liver fibrosis were analyzed. AAR, APRI, FIB-4, and Forns Index could significantly distinguish F0-2 from F3-4 mice. APRI, FIB-4, and Forns Index could detect F0-3 from F4 mice. Among these four markers, FIB-4 was the best able to distinguish ≥F2 and ≥F3, with area under the curve values of 0.882 and 0.92, respectively. Forns Index was best for diagnosing F4 with area under the curve value of 0.879. These results demonstrated that
serum markers could be used for assessing
liver fibrosis in bile duct
ligation mice, and therefore, these markers might lead to more accurate diagnostic and therapeutic studies through continuous monitoring in individual animals. Impact statement The assessment of
liver fibrosis is essential for making a prognosis and determining the appropriate anti-
fibrosis treatment. In studies focusing on the mechanism and treatment of
liver fibrosis using animal models, it would be more accurate to continuously evaluate
liver fibrosis in a single animal to avoid individual biological differences. Unfortunately, it is difficult to perform continuous assessment through liver biopsy in the most commonly used rodent models. It is unclear whether
serum markers, which have been used in hepatic
fibrosis patients, could be used in animal models. Our results demonstrate that
serum markers could be used for assessing
liver fibrosis in bile duct
ligation mice. This study might contribute to more accurate diagnostic and therapeutic studies through continuous monitoring in individual animals.