Table 1. Eligibility criteria for the recruited participants.
| Group | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Healthy control without positive AFB1 (Group 1) | 1. Negative HBV markers (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and HBV DNA) |
| 2. Negative anti-HCV | |
| 3. No liver diseases and other systematic diseases | |
| 4. Persistently normal AST and ALT levels | |
| 5. Negative ln(AAA) | |
| Healthy control with positive AFB1 (Group 2) | 1. Negative HBV markers (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and HBV DNA) |
| 2. Negative anti-HCV | |
| 3. No liver diseases and other systematic diseases | |
| 4. Persistently normal AST and ALT levels | |
| 5. Positive ln(AAA) | |
| Control with liver diseases exception tumors (Group 3) | 1. Negative HBV markers (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and HBV DNA) |
| 2. Negative anti-HCV | |
| 3. Without evidence of liver tumors | |
| 4. Persistently or intermittent elevation in AST or ALT levels | |
| 5. Positive ln(AAA) | |
| AFB1-related HCC (Group 4) | 1. Diagnosis based on hepatic ultrasound together with CT and/or MRI by at least two imaging technologists |
| 2. Confirmed histopathologically by two independent pathologists | |
| 3. Negative HBV markers (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and HBV DNA) | |
| 4. Negative anti-HCV | |
| 5. Positive ln(AAA) | |
| 6. No pre-operative chemotherapy, radiotherapy, transarterial chemoembolization or ablation before collection of blood samples | |
| Non-AFB1-related HCC (Group 5) | 1. Diagnosis based on hepatic ultrasound together with CT and/or MRI by at least two imaging technologists |
| 2. Confirmed histopathologically by two independent pathologists | |
| 3. Negative HBV markers (HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, and HBV DNA) | |
| 4. Negative anti-HCV | |
| 5. Negative ln(AAA) | |
| 6. No pre-operative chemotherapy, radiotherapy, transarterial chemoembolization or ablation before collection of blood samples |
Abbreviation. HBV, hepatitis B virus; HBsAg, HBV surface antigen; HBeAg, HBV e antigen; anti-HBe, antibody against HBeAg; anti-HBc, HBV core antibody; anti-HCV, antibody against hepatitis C virus; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AFB1, aflatoxin B1; ln (AAA), the logarithmical value of serum AFB1 albumin adducts levels of peripheral blood; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma.