MMP7 and Hepatic fibrosis: When using serum MFAP4 and MMP7 to predict the severity of liver fibrosis in BA patients, higher serum MFAP4 levels were found to be superior in predicting severe liver fibrosis [AUC = 0.726] (P < 0.05, Figure 4B), compared to MMP7 [AUC = 0.666], indicating that serum MFAP4 more accurately reflects the degree of liver fibrosis in BA patients.