MedUni Vienna develops biomarkers for fatty liver

Fatty liver: Biomarker designed to predict the course of the disease

05/03/2015

MedUni Vienna has developed biomarkers for the diagnosis of fatty liver and for monitoring the further course of the disease. With its help, the prognosis of severe forms of disease, including liver cirrhosis or even liver cancer, is to be made possible, reports MedUni Vienna.

According to the data of the MedUni suffer „40% of people in the EU have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition that is becoming more common in affluent society as a result of diabetes and obesity.“ The disease is reversible in principle, but may also develop an additional inflammation and later cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Prognosis of severe forms
Prognosis of the course of the disease is so far only extremely limited in fatty liver. Although the risk of developing fatty liver inflammation, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer as well as the increased risk of kidney damage and a heart attack is well known, it remains difficult to estimate how high the individual risk. In addition, be „the disease strongly associated with diabetes, obesity or the metabolic syndrome, but also with genetic processes and changes in the intestinal microbiome“, so the message of the MedUni.

Identify individual risk
The scientists of MedUni therefore have one „Risk score with different biomarkers“ developed. The aim is to be able to estimate the individual risk without liver biopsy (ie non-invasive). The first results are promising, according to the head of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Department of Internal Medicine III of the MedUni Vienna, Michael Trauner. „We assume that in the end there will be a mix of biomarkers to compose the risk score“, Sun Trauner.

Biomarkers enable assessment of the course of the disease
The risk score will, according to the researchers on a combination of biomarkers „from the blood, from the microbiome in the intestine as well as genetic markers and markers from imaging procedures, including the latest applications of positron emission tomography (PET)“ based. With the help of biomarkers will in future a better assessment of the course of the disease possible. So one can answer, where the way goes, if already a fatty liver disease is present. In addition, it will „also easier, as part of a personalized medicine, to take the right therapeutic steps in time“, this is the message from MedUni Vienna. (Fp)

Picture credits: Jörg Klemme, Hamburg