Biomarkers of liver fibrosis

Morling, Joanne R.; Guha, Indra Neil

Abstract

Currently the only accepted method (gold standard) for the diagnosis of the fibrotic stages of chronic liver disease (CLD) is liver biopsy, to allow histological assessment. Liver biopsy is an invasive investigation associated with a range adverse events (e.g. pain, haemorrhage) limiting its serial usage in clinical practice. Additionally, its use is further reduced by sampling error and because histology is in effect a surrogate for clinical outcomes.
Over recent years, alternative non-invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis have been developed. Initially developed in chronic viral hepatitis these have since seen their use expanded to include all aetiologies of CLD. Such markers can be divided into indirect ‘simple’ markers (e.g. transaminases, gamma-glutamyl transferase, platelet count), direct ‘complex’ markers (e.g. procollagen peptides I/III, Type IV collagen), cytokines (e.g. interleukin-10, transforming growth factor alpha) and imaging. Here, we discuss the clinical utility, limitations and development of non-invasive biomarkers in their use as diagnostic and prognostic tests.

Citation

Morling, J. R., & Guha, I. N. (in press). Biomarkers of liver fibrosis. Clinical Liver Disease, 7(6), https://doi.org/10.1002/cld.555

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jun 28, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2016
• Journal: Clinical Liver Disease
• Electronic ISSN: 2046-2484
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cld.555
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/793223
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cld.555/full
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Morling, Joanne R. and Guha, Indra N. Biomarkers of liver fibrosis. Clinical Liver Disease Vol. 7, issue 6: 139-142. doi: 10.1002/cld.555 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cld.555/full; This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.