Abstract: Objective To investigate the correlation between vitamin B12 (VitB12), folic acid (FA), growth hormone (GH) and liver function in hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis. Methods One hundred and forty-eight hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis admitted from January 2020 to December 2021 were enrolled as the hepatitis B group. 100 subjects with normal physical examination at the same period of time were selected as the normal control group. Fasting venous bloods were taken from individuals of both groups, and the serum levels of VitB12, FA, GH, and liver function indicators including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin (TBil) were detected and compared between the two groups. The patients were further divided into Child-Pugh A, B and C groups according to their Child-Pugh grading of liver function. Their serum indicators were compared within the groups, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between ALT, AST, TBil and VitB12, FA, GH levels. Results Serum VitB12, GH, ALT, AST and TBil of hepatitis B group were (321.81±37.81) ng/L, (7.21±1.23) μg/L, (91.78±10.28) U/L, (99.01±15.78) U/L, (66.21±14.91) μmol/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in normal group. The FA level of hepatitis B group was (5.21±1.90) μg/L, which was significantly lower than that of normal group (P<0.05). According to Child-Pugh grading, there were 30, 71 and 47 cases in grade A, B and C groups, respectively. The levels of serum VitB12, GH, ALT, AST, and TBil in Child-Pugh Grade A patients were (271.91±31.90) ng/L, (5.91±1.19) μg/L, (82.90±14.91) U/L, (72.90±16.91) U/L, and (32.91±10.21) μmol/L, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of (331.09±37.91) ng/L, (7.57±1.20) μg/L, (95.25±13.30) U/L, (101.78±20.21) U/L, and (68.91±16.89) μmol/L in Grade B patients, and (442.10±40.81) ng/L, (9.21±1.43) μg/L, (137.91±14.89) U/L, (182.91±30.22) U/L, and (172.14±17.82) μmol/L in grade C patients, The serum level of FA in grade A patients was (7.89±1.21) μg/L, which was significantly higher than that of (5.01±1.23) μg/L in grade B or (2.90±0.51) μg/L in grade C patients (P<0.05). Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed that serum VitB12 and GH were positively correlated with liver function indexes of ALT, AST and AST, whereas serum FA was negatively correlated with these indexes (P<0.05). Conclusion With the aggravation of liver function damage in hepatitis B patients with liver cirrhosis, serum VitB12, GH levels increase and FA level decreases. Serum levels of VitB12, GH and FA may therefore be used as effective indicators to evaluate the severity of liver injuries.

Key words: Vitamin B12, Folic acid, Growth hormone, Hepatitis B, Cirrhosis