Albumin binding function is a novel biomarker for early liver damage and disease progression in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

PURPOSE: Indicators to assess early liver damage and disease progression in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unsatisfactory. Albumin binding function has been reported to be an early indicator of liver damage in hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. However, its role in NAFLD patients is unknown. METHODS: An age/sex-matched, case-control study was performed. Albumin-binding capacity (ABiC) and albumin metal ion binding ability, assessed by ischemia modified albumin (IMA), were measured. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the association of albumin binding function with liver function enzymes and noninvasive liver fibrosis markers. RESULTS: A total of 80 NAFLD patients and 41 healthy controls were included. Albumin binding function was significantly lower in NAFLD (ABiC: 196.00%, p < 0.001; IMA transformed (IMAT): 0.461, p < 0.001; and IMAT/albumin: 0.947 × 10-2, p < 0.001) than controls (ABiC: 211.00%; IMAT: 0.575; and IMAT/albumin: 1.206 × 10-2). Albumin binding function was also found to be significantly different among healthy participants and different severity groups of NAFLD (p < 0.001). Besides, albumin binding function showed positive correlation with BMI (ABiC: r = -0.247, p = 0.011; IMAT: r = -0.243, p = 0.013; IMAT/albumin: r = -0.254, p = 0.009) and FIB-4 index (ABiC: r = 0.230, p = 0.029). The ROC curve suggested that albumin binding function combined with BMI and triglyceride may predict the presence of NAFLD (area under ROC (AUROC) = 0.935, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest albumin binding function is a novel biomarker for early liver damage and disease progression in NAFLD.