Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive human Mac‐2‐binding protein as a predictive marker of liver fibrosis in human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus coinfected patients

Aim In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients, the progression of liver failure is reported to be more aggressive than that in HCV mono‐infected patients. Wisteria floribunda agglutinin‐positive human Mac‐2‐binding protein (WFA + ‐M2BP) is well recognized as a liver fibrosis glycobiomarker with a unique fibrosis‐related glycoalteration. We analyzed HIV/HCV coinfected patients’ M2BP levels as a possible marker for predicting liver fibrosis. Methods M2BP was measured in 31 HIV/HCV coinfected patients, and we analyzed the correlation between WFA + ‐M2BP and several markers of fibrosis, liver function, and tumor markers. We compared the WFA + ‐M2BP levels in HIV/HCV coinfected patients with those of HCV mono‐infected patients by performing a propensity score matching analysis. Results In the HIV/HCV coinfected patients, the serum level of WFA + ‐M2BP was well correlated with the markers type IV collagen, hyaluronic acid, and alpha‐fetoprotein, but not protein induced by vitamin K absence‐II. In the propensity score matching with HCV mono‐infected patients, the WFA + ‐M2BP levels were significantly higher in the HIV/HCV coinfected patients compared with the levels in the HCV mono‐infected patients. Conclusion In conclusion, WFA + ‐M2BP might be a feasible predictive marker of fibrosis in HIV/HCV coinfected patients.