A consortium of research centres, universities and corporations, led by CIC bioGUNE and OWL Genomics, has developed an innovative tool for early diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), using metabolomic technology as the basis for this new test. The research project was published last month in the Journal of Proteome Research, and the product will be available quite soon, when the company OWL Genomics starts its commercialisation in Spain.

NAFLD is a progressive disease, including from a small accumulation of fat in the liver (steatosis) to very severe necroinflammatory complications such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), affecting 24% of the population in the United States and Europe. Although only a small amount of patients suffering NAFLD develop cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a greater trend to obesity may derive in an increase of these severe diseases that present even more health risks. Therefore, early diagnosis is crucial to identify NAFLD patients, to evaluate the risk of the progress of this disease and to monitor the response to treatment.

Nowadays, the most common methods for NAFLD diagnosis are ultrasound imaging techniques, MRIs and histological analysis of a liver biopsy. However, imaging techniques are expensive and imprecise (failing to distinguish between NASH and steatosis), while liver biopsy is a costly and invasive technique, and a subjective process associated to potential complications and prone to sampling errors.

The metabolomics-based blood tests developed by OWL Genomics and CIC bioGUNE detect the differences between a simple steatosis and NASH. «The results of these blood tests could help healthcare providers to diagnose NAFLD and gain information on how the patient is responding to treatment», explains Professor José Mato, director of CIC bioGUNE. «We believe that this is the new application of an experimental approach to determine a blood metabolomic profile leading to the identification of possible biomarkers for any hepatic disease. It is also a great example of translational research», adds Mato.

Researchers from several French institutions have participated in the development of this research project (INSERM, the APHP Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, the Pierre y Marie Curie University of Paris, the Nice Teaching Hospital and the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis), together with those from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, USA), the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, USA), the Clínic Hospital and IDIBAPS (Barcelona) and the University of Alcalá de Henares. It is comprised in the projects HEPADIP and CIBERehd and has the support of the European Commission and the Carlos III Health Institute in Spain.