Background: In patients with liver cirrhosis, serum levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) have been associated with increasing fibrosis and are related to angiogenesis.
Aim: To assess the possible correlation between sVCAM-1 and splanchnic and systemic haemodynamic and clinical staging of cirrhotic patients.
Methods: We assessed, using immunoassays, the serum levels of sVCAM-1, in the peripheral and hepatic vein, in all consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis, who underwent a haemodynamic study as part of its routine clinical work-up.
Results: We studied 86 patients [61 M/25 F; age 51.1 (8.3) years] with alcoholic (31) or viral (HBV:6, HCV:49) cirrhosis, 10 of them with hepatocellular carcinoma (Milan criteria). The mean follow-up was 391(187) days; 29 patients died or underwent transplantion during follow-up. A strong correlation in serum levels of sVCAM-1 was observed between the peripheral and the hepatic vein (r=0.8; P=0.0001). There was no correlation between levels of sVCAM-1 and hepatic venous pressure gradient. At univariate analysis, sVCAM-1 was inversely related with mean arterial pressure (r=-0.292; P=0.007), systemic vascular resistance (SVR) (r=-0.37; P=0.005) and serum sodium levels (r=-0.326; P=0.002). In multivariate linear regression only SVR remained as an independent variable associated to sVCAM-1. A correlation of sVCAM-1 with Child-Pugh scores, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and the clinical stage proposed in the Baveno IV consensus conference was also observed. Finally, patients who died or underwent transplantion during follow-up had significantly greater values of sVCAM-1 at baseline than those who did not [3505(1329) vs. 2488(1208) P=0.001].
Conclusion: This study supports a potential role of sVCAM-1 as a marker of hyperdynamic circulation, closely related to the different stage of liver cirrhosis.