Abstract: Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of serum retinol-binding protein 4（RBP4）in the diagnosis of patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis（NASH）. Methods Serum RBP4 was measured in triplicates by a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 42 biopsy-proven patients with NASH，28 with fatty liver and 20 healthy people. The diagnostic performance of the serum RBP4 was assessed by analysis of receiver operating characteristic（ROC）curve. Results Serum RBP4 level in the NASH was 37.11±7.68mg/L，significantly higher than that in the simple steatosis cases（22.83±6.33mg/L，P<0.01）or in control subjects（19.38±5.46mg/L，P<0.01）；The area under the curve for serum RBP4 were 0.804 and the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of NASH were 79.6%和76.6%，respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrates that serum RBP4 levels may be a sensitive marker to detect patients with NASH.

Key words: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, Retinol-binding protein 4, Diagnosis