Increased plasma levels of relaxin-2 in liver cirrhotic patients

Background: Relaxin-2 has been found to alleviate fibrosis in liver cirrhosis, and our previous study showed that relaxin-3 inhibits ROS-induced hepatic cell apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the levels of plasma relaxin-2 or relaxin-3 in patients with liver cirrhosis and their relationship to component traits in patients with liver cirrhosis. Aims: To determine the levels of plasma relaxin-2 or relaxin-3 in patients with liver cirrhosis and their relationship to component traits in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods: A total of 75 patients with liver cirrhosis and 41 age-matched healthy control subjects were enrolled in this study. Relaxin-2 and relaxin-3 expression levels in plasma were investigated by radioimmunoassay. Results: Plasma relaxin-2 levels were significantly higher in patients with liver cirrhosis than in control subjects (p=0.004). Specifically, plasma relaxin-2 levels were significantly positively correlated with Child-Pugh classification, white blood cell, activated partial thromboplastin time and indirect bilirubin. Plasma relaxin-2 levels were significantly negatively correlated with albumin. There were no significant differences in plasma relaxin-3 concentrations between the two groups (p=0.932). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis yielded an area under the curve for relaxin-2 of 0.665 in liver cirrhosis. Conclusions: Plasma relaxin-2 levels were higher in patients with liver cirrhosis than in control subjects, and plasma relaxin-2 levels were significantly positively correlated with Child-Pugh classification, and negatively correlated with albumin.