Professor Geltrude Mingrone, from King’s College London and Catholic University of Rome, Italy, looked to find a more accurate liquid biopsy test. Researchers have created a liquid biopsy test, which uses two circulating proteins, to test for major liver diseases. The test was found to be highly accurate, sensitive, and specific for both NASH and liver fibrosis.

Figure 1. A liquid biopsy test, to test for major liver diseases.

Figure 1 shows that a non-invasive test will allow for the determination of staging of both diseases without recurring invasive liver biopsy.

Non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) is the most severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is diagnosed in approximately 60 per cent of NAFLD patients. NASH puts people at risk of progressing to advanced liver diseases such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. [1]

Currently, NASH can only be diagnosed with invasive liver biopsy, which is the standard of diagnosis, but is expensive and has co-morbidities and complications.

The algorithms, which used A.I., gave impressive results, including a sensitivity of 88-95%, a specificity of 90%-100%, and an overall accuracy of 92-93% for NASH. For fibrosis, they were even better, with a sensitivity of 99%-100%, specificity of 90%-96%, and accuracy of 98%-99%. As well as being much more accurate than all other currently available biomarkers, it is now possible to predict the stages of the diseases without invasive liver biopsy. [2]

These results show that the PLIN2/RAB14-based liquid biopsy can provide rapid and cost-effective testing to combat the growing epidemic of NASH and liver fibrosis. This will be an invaluable tool in diagnosing and monitoring cases of liver diseases, enabling people to receive earlier treatment.”

The test – developed in collaboration with Metadeq Corp. – is expected to significantly reduce screen failures in clinical trials and improve the chances of new life-saving drugs reaching the market. [3]

References:

1. https://theprint.in/science/highly-accurate-non-invasive-test-for-major-liver-diseases-created-by-researchers/1039602/
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220714095151.htm
3. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/kings-researchers-create-highly-accurate-non-invasive-test-for-major-liver-diseases

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), Researchers Created Accurate Non – Invasive Test for Liver Diseases, AnaTechMaz, pp.142