Association between serum IgG level and clinical course in primary sclerosing cholangitis

BMC Gastroenterology

Table 3 Subgroup analysis of IgG-levels

	Study cohort	Normal IgG levels (N = 82)	Elevated IgG levels (N = 66)	p-value
Gender [Male %]	105 (70.9%)	55 (67.1%)	50 (75.8%)	0.3²
Median age at initial diagnose [years]	33.5 (26–47)	40 (28–50)	30 (23–39)	0.001 ¹
Presence of IBD [N, %]	99 (66.9%)	50 (50.5%)	49 (49.5%)	0.1²
AIH/PSC overlap [N, %]	5 (3.4%)	2 (2.4%)	3 (4.5%)	0.7³
Dominant stenosis	87 (58.7%)	48 (55.2%)	39 (44.8%)	0.5²
BMI	22.7 (17.1–31.9)	22.2 (17.1–27.1)	23.4 (19.9–31.9)	0.1
Mayo Risk score	−0.521 (−1.15–0.52)	−0.273 (−1.07–0.83)	−0.107 (− 1.02–1.01)	0.4¹
MELD	6 (6–15)	6 (6–15)	6 (6–14)	0.4
Presents of CCA [N, %]	12 (8.1%)	7 (8.5%)	5 (7.6%)	0.8²
Death [N, %]	37 (25%)	15 (18.3%)	22 (33.3%)	0.04 ²
OLT [N, %]	32 (21.6%)	13 (15.9%)	19 (29.8%)	0.17²
Re-OLT [N, %]	9 (6.1%)	4 (4.9%)	5 (4.6%)	0.5²
Combined endpoint (death and OLT)	57 (38.5%)	23 (40.4%)	34 (59.6%)	0.004 ²

Table shows differences between the subgroup of patients with normal (N = 82) and elevated IgG-levels (N = 66). Patients with elevated IgG levels were significant younger than patients with IgG levels within the normal range (p < 0.005). Patients with elevated IgG levels died more often or reached the combined endpoint (death and OLT) compared to patients that had IgG levels within the normal range (p < 0.05 and p < 0.005, respectively. There was a trend towards an increased number of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients with hypergammaglobulinemia (p = 0.057). Bold values indicates significant P-values (<0.05)
Abbreviations: IBD = inflammatory bowel disease, AIH/PSC = autoimmune hepatitis/primary sclerosing cholangitis, MELD score = Model for End-stage Liver Disease, CCA = cholangiocarcinoma, OLT = orthotopic liver transplantation
¹Mann-Witney- U test was applied
²Chi2-Test was applied
³Fisher’s exact test was applied

ISSN: 1471-230X