Abstract: Objective To explore the predictive value of serum adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) for the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods Eighty-six cases of NAFLD (NAFLD group) patients and 86 healthy adults (control group) were enrollled. Age, gender, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference were assessed. The level of serum TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, FPG, ALT, AST, γ-GT, UA, hsCRP, A-FABP, TNF-α were measured. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was plotted, the NAFLD threshold of A-FABP was calculated, the predictive efficacy was verified, and the correlation between A-FABP and TNF-α was analyzed. Results Compared with the control group, the height, weight, waist circumference, BMI, TG, TC, LDL-C, FPG, ALT, AST, γ-GT, UA, hsCRP, the level of serum A-FABP and TNF-α in the NAFLD group were increased(P<0.05), while HDL-C were decreased significantly (P<0.01). When the A-FABP cutoff value was 82.43 pg/mL, the diagnostic sensitivity of NAFLD was 97.7%, the specificity was 93.0%, the positive predictive value was 93.3%, the negative predictive value was 97.6%, the overall coincidence rate was 95.3%, and the consistency test statistic Kappa was 0.907. The spearman or pearson correlation analysis revealed that the A-FABP level was positively correlated with TNF-α, UA and BMI, while was negatively correlated with HDL-C (P<0.05). Multiple linear regression showed that TNF-α and UA were independent factors affecting A-FABP.Conclusion A-FABP play important roles in the liver function impairment and inflammatory response, and is a good serum predictor for NAFLD with a cutoff value of 82.43 pg/mL.

Key words: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Fatty acid-binding proteins, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, The receiver operating characteristic curve