Interleukin-34 is more suitable than macrophage colony-stimulating factor for predicting liver significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Aims: Interleukin-34 (IL-34) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) have similar functions, such as promoting the formation of liver fibrosis. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the diagnostic value of serum IL-34 and CSF-1 for significant liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Methods: A total of 369 CHB patients, consisting of 208 HBeAg-negative patients and 161 HBeAg-positive patients, were enrolled in this study. Additionally, 72 healthy individuals served as healthy controls (HCs). Serum levels of IL-34 and CSF-1 were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Liver fibrosis grades were assessed using the modified Scheuer scoring system.Results: Serum IL-34 and CSF-1 levels exhibited significant elevation in both HBeAg-negative and HBeAg-positive patients in comparison to HCs (p < 0.001). IL-34 emerged as an independent factor linked to significant liver fibrosis, whereas CSF-1 did not exhibit such an association. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated higher areas under the curves (AUCs) for IL-34 (0.814, p < 0.001 and 0.673, p < 0.001) when diagnosing significant liver fibrosis in HBeAg-negative and HBeAg-positive patients, respectively, as opposed to CSF-1 (0.602, p < 0.001; 0.619, p = 0.385). Within the HBeAg-negative patient subgroup, the AUC for IL-34 surpassed that of FIB-4 (p = 0.009) and APRI (p = 0.045).Conclusion: Serum IL-34 has the potential to be a straightforward and practical biomarker that demonstrates superior performance to serum CSF-1 in the diagnosis of significant liver fibrosis in CHB patients, especially within the HBeAg-negative patients.