Correlation between adiponectin and liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Objective To explore the correlation between adiponectin and liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.Methods 60 patients with chronic hepatitis B were divided into mild liver fibrosis group (n =28),severe liver fibrosis group (n =17)and cirrho-sis group (n =15),and 20 healthy volunteers were designed as the control group.The serum adiponectin level was detected in all the groups.Results There were significant differences of serum adiponectin levels among the four groups (P <0.05),and there was a positive correlation be-tween serum adiponectin level and liver fibrosis grade (r =0.967,P <0.05).The expression rate of liver tissue adiponectin in cirrhosis group was 93.33%,which was significantly higher than the mild group (14.29%)and severe fibrosis group (41.18%)(P <0.05).Conclusion Adiponectin is closely related to the liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.