ANALYSIS OF MOLECULAR LEVEL OF SERUM-FREE TAM RECEPTOR FAMILIES IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY BILIARY CIRRHOSIS

Taichang Tan, Tao Mai, Chengjie Xu, Jiaqiang Wang, Jiajia Wang*

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

bjective: To investigate the molecular level of serum-free TAM receptor families in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and to analyze its clinical significance. 

Methods: Seventy patients with PBS admitted to the gastroenterology department of our hospital from August 2017 to February 2019 were retrospectively selected as the observation group, and 60 healthy people who were physically examined in our hospital were selected as the control group. Fasting venous blood was collected in both observation and control groups in the morning, and the expression of Gas6, ProS, sTyro-3, sAxl and sMer in serum was detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after centrifugation; general data such as sex, age, anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA) and biochemical indexes of liver function were recorded in the electronic medical records. The correlation between TAM receptor family molecules and biochemical indexes related to liver function was analyzed, and the diagnostic value of TAM receptor family molecules in PBC was analyzed by drawing a ROC curve. 

Results: The results of ELISA detection showed that there was no significant difference in serum Gas6, sAxl level of the TAM receptor family between observation and control groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression level of serum ligand ProS in the observation group was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), and the expression level of serum receptor sTyro-3 and sMer was clearly increased (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis showed that the expression levels of sMer and sTyro-3 in the serum of the patients were positively correlated with the biochemical indexes of liver function, such as GGT, TBA and AKP (P < 0.01). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of sTyro-3 was the highest (0.78), the sensitivity was 78.8 %, and the specificity was 78.0 %.

Conclusion: There were significant abnormalities in serum ProS, sTyro-3 and sMer of TAM family molecules in patients with PBC. There was a remarkable positive correlation between the expression of sTyro-3, sMer and the biochemical index levels of liver function, such as GGT, TBA and AKP. Serum-free TAM receptor family molecules have certain potential diagnostic value for the diagnosis of PBC.