Impacts of infection status of hepatitis viruses and biochemical parameters of liver function on 18F-FDG uptake by the liver

Objective To identify impacts of infection status of chronic hepatitis viruses and biochemical parameters of liver function on hepatic FDG uptake. Methods The results of 18F-FDG PET/CT, liver function biochemical tests and hepatic virus tests of 713 healthy adults (504 males, 209 females, age 24-74 years) were retrospectively analyzed. Two-sample t test, correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were performed to identify correlations of liver SUVmean with the biochemical parameters and hepatic viral infection status. Results HBsAg tests were performed in 449 subjects, with the results of 65 (14.5%) positive and 384 (85.5%) negative. HCV antibody tests were performed in 477 subjects, with 53 (11.1%) positive and 424 (88.9%) negative. The average SUVmean of the total subjects was 1.86±0.38. There was no significant difference of SUVmean between HBsAg positive group and negative group (t=1.042, P>0.05), or between HCV antibody positive group and negative group (t=1.283, P>0.05). Serum conjugated bilirubin, globulin and AST were significantly correlated with liver SUVmean (r'=-0.191, -0.087 and 0.132, all P<0.05). These parameters were independent variables on predicting variance of liver SUVmean, with globulin showing the largest predicting value (standardized β'=-0.112, P<0.05). Conclusions Functional status of liver may affect liver 18F-FDG uptake. Serum conjugated bilirubin, globulin and AST may be the independent variables on predicting variance of liver SUVmean. Liver functional test results should be taken into consideration when hepatic 18F-FDG uptake is interpreted. Key words: Liver function tests; Hepatitis B surface antigens; Hepatitis C antibodies; Tomography, emission-computed; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose