Association Between Mannose Binding Lectin Level and Progression of Chronic Hepatitis B

Background: Mannose binding lectin (MBL) is believed to be an important component of the innate immune response. MBL may be an important non-invasive predictor for progression of hepatitis B virus infection. In this study, we examined whether there is a relationship between MBL levels and progression of hepatitis B virus infection. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, fifty patients with chronic hepatitis B and 21healthy control subjects were included. They were classified into three groups: Active hepatitis B, inactive hepatitis B and healthy control groups. The association between MBL level with the stage of fibrosis and histological activity index (HAI) was found in patients with active chronic hepatitis B. Results: The mean ± SD of MBL level was as 2875.3 ± 2040.03 ng/ml in active HBV patients, 2463.9 ± 1915.4 ng / ml in inactive HBV patients, and 1865.04 ± 265.6 ng/ml in healthy controls (P: 0.344). MBL was not significantly correlated with HAI and the stage of fibrosis (r: -0.30, P: 0.876 and r: 0.077, P: 0.687, respectively). Conclusion: In our study, we could not find any significant association between MBL levels and progression of HBV infection; which is not in line with the hypothesis that MBL may be beneficial as a non-invasive predictor of the survival of patients with hepatitis B virus infection.