Serum levels of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein reflect the severity of chronic pancreatitis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the utility of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein (WFA ⁺-M2BP) level as a marker for chronic pancreatitis (CP). METHODS: We measured the serum WFA⁺-M2BP level of 74 patients with CP who had undergone endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and 30 normal controls (NC) using a glycan sugar chain-based immunoassay and investigated the relationship between serum WFA⁺-M2BP levels and the Cambridge classification of CP. RESULTS: Serum WFA⁺-M2BP level was significantly higher in patients with CP than in NC (0.64 ± 0.28 vs 0.34 ± 0.25, P < 0.001). The levels (expressed as cut-off index) of WFA⁺-M2BP for the classification of mild, moderate and marked CP were 0.44, 0.63 and 0.87, respectively. Thus, serum WFA⁺-M2BP levels increased with increasing CP severity. With a cut-off value of 0.34, 0.59 and 0.61, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity and specificity were 0.829, 91.9% and 63.3% for mild CP; 0.891, 81.8% and 85.0% for moderate CP; and 0.888, 92.0% and 74.7% for marked CP, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that elevated serum WFA⁺-M2BP was independently associated with moderate and marked CP, respectively. CONCLUSION: Serum WFA⁺-M2BP level is a useful marker for grading CP severity.