Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a progressive liver disease that is closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, represents an increasing global public health challenge. There is significant variability in the disease course: the majority exhibit only fat accumulation in the liver but a significant minority develop a necroinflammatory form of the disease (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present our understanding of pathogenesis, disease natural history and long-term outcomes remain incomplete. There is a need for large, well characterised patient cohorts that may be used to address these knowledge gaps and to support the development of better biomarkers and novel therapies. The European NAFLD Registry is an international, prospectively recruited observational cohort study that aims to establish a large, highly-phenotyped patient cohort and linked bioresource. Here we describe the infrastructure, data management and monitoring plans, and the standard operating procedures implemented to ensure the timely and systematic collection of high-quality data and samples. Already recruiting subjects at secondary/tertiary care centres across Europe, the Registry is supporting the European Union IMI2-funded LITMUS 'Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis' consortium, which is a major international effort to robustly validate biomarkers that diagnose, risk stratify and/or monitor NAFLD progression and liver fibrosis stage. The European NAFLD Registry has the demonstrable capacity to support research and biomarker development at scale and pace. ; Peer reviewed
In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Band 57, Heft 2, S. 203-210
AbstractAimTo assess the impact of Covid-19 on alcohol use disorders (AUD) and the role of universal alcohol screening (UAS) in an inpatient setting.MethodsRetrospective cohorts were defined as pre-pandemic and pandemic admitted to Nottingham University Hospitals (April to October; 2019 and 2020) and had alcohol assessment by AUDIT-C. AUDIT-C score was assessed against age, sex, ethnicity, admission type, speciality and primary diagnosis of mental disorders. Subgroup analysis for Covid-19 positive patients was performed.ResultsA total of 63,927 admissions (47,954 patients) were included. The pandemic period compared to pre-pandemic had fewer overall admissions (27,349 vs 36,578, P < 0.001), fewer with AUD (17.6% vs 18.4%, P = 0.008) but a higher proportion of alcohol dependents (3.7% vs 3.0%, P < 0.0001). In the pandemic those with AUD were more likely to be male (P = 0.003), white (P < 0.001), in relationship (P < 0.001), of higher socioeconomic background (P < 0.001), have alcohol-related mental disorders (P = 0.002), emergency admission (P < 0.001), medical speciality admission (P < 0.001) and shorter length of stay (P < 0.033) compared to pre-pandemic AUD. Covid-19 positive patients with concomitant AUD died at younger age (P < 0.05) than Covid-19 positive patients at low risk for AUD.ConclusionsThe pandemic changed the characteristics of inpatients with AUD. There was a higher proportion of alcohol-dependent admissions with evidence that a younger, less deprived group have been significantly impacted. UAS provides a useful tool to screen for AUD and to identify the change when facing sudden health crises.
Introduction: Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an unpredictable event, and there are no specific biomarkers that can distinguish DILI from alternative explanations or predict its clinical outcomes. Areas covered: This systematic review summarizes the available evidence for all biomarkers proposed to have a role in the diagnosis or prognosis of DILI. Following a comprehensive search, we included all types of studies in humans. We included DILI cases based on any threshold criteria but excluded intrinsic DILI, commonly caused by paracetamol overdose. We classified studies into diagnostic and prognostic categories and assessed their methodological quality. After reviewing the literature, 14 studies were eligible. Expert Opinion: Diagnostic studies were heterogeneous with regard to the study population and outcomes measured. Prognostic models were developed by integrating novel biomarkers, risk scores, and traditional biomarkers, which increased their prognostic ability to predict death or transplantation by 6 months. This systematic review highlights the case of need for non-genetic biomarkers that distinguish DILI from acute liver injury related to alternative etiology. Biomarkers with the potential to identify serious adverse outcomes from acute DILI should be validated in independent prospective cohorts with a substantial number of cases. ; This paper was funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 821283 (www.imi.europa.eu). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. Translational Safety Biomarker Pipeline (TransBioLine): Enabling develop- ment and implementation of novel safety biomarkers in clinical trials and diagnosis of disease' — 'TransBioLine' ('action'). Grant Number: 821283.
To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Download ; Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a complication of treatment with antituberculosis (TB) drugs, especially in isoniazid (INH)-containing regimens. To investigate genetic risk factors, we performed a genomewide association study (GWAS) involving anti-TB DILI cases (55 Indian and 70 European) and controls (1,199 Indian and 10,397 European). Most cases were treated with a standard anti-TB drug regimen; all received INH. We imputed single nucleotide polymorphism and HLA genotypes and performed trans-ethnic meta-analysis on GWAS and candidate gene genotypes. GWAS found one significant association (rs117491755) in Europeans only. For HLA, HLA-B*52:01 was significant (meta-analysis odds ratio (OR) 2.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.63-4.37, P = 9.4 × 10-5 ). For N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2), NAT2*5 frequency was lower in cases (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.57-0.83, P = 0.01). NAT2*6 and NAT2*7 were more common, with homozygotes for NAT2*6 and/or NAT2*7 enriched among cases (OR 1.89, 95% CI 0.84-4.22, P = 0.004). We conclude HLA genotype makes a small contribution to TB drug-related DILI and that the NAT2 contribution is complex, but consistent with previous reports when differences in the metabolic effect of NAT2*5 compared with those of NAT2*6 and NAT2*7 are considered. ; International Serious Adverse Events Consortium Abbott Laboratories Amgen Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited GlaxoSmithKline Merck & Company Novartis Pfizer Roche Holding Sanofi-Aventis Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd Wellcome Trust National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research Unit NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust University of Nottingham Instituto de Salud Carlos III European Union (EU) Instituto de Salud Carlos III Swedish Medical Products Agency Swedish Society of ...
Background & Aims: Serum microRNA (miRNA) levels are known to change in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and may serve as useful biomarkers. This study aimed to profile miRNAs comprehensively at all NAFLD stages. Methods: We profiled 2,083 serum miRNAs in a discovery cohort (183 cases with NAFLD representing the complete NAFLD spectrum and 10 population controls). miRNA libraries generated by HTG EdgeSeq were sequenced by Illumina NextSeq. Selected serum miRNAs were profiled in 372 additional cases with NAFLD and 15 population controls by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Results: Levels of 275 miRNAs differed between cases and population controls. Fewer differences were seen within individual NAFLD stages, but miR-193a-5p consistently showed increased levels in all comparisons. Relative to NAFL/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with mild fibrosis (stage 0/1), 3 miRNAs (miR-193a-5p, miR-378d, and miR378d) were increased in cases with NASH and clinically significant fibrosis (stages 2-4), 7 (miR193a-5p, miR-378d, miR-378e, miR-320b, miR-320c, miR-320d, and miR-320e) increased in cases with NAFLD activity score (NAS) 5-8 compared with lower NAS, and 3 (miR-193a-5p, miR-378d, and miR-378e) increased but 1 (miR-19b-3p) decreased in steatosis, activity, and fibrosis (SAF) activity score 2-4 compared with lower SAF activity. The significant findings for miR-193a-5p were replicated in the additional cohort with NAFLD. Studies in Hep G2 cells showed that following palmitic acid treatment, miR-193a-5p expression decreased significantly. Gene targets for miR-193a-5p were investigated in liver RNAseq data for a case subgroup (n = 80); liver GPX8 levels correlated positively with serum miR-193a-5p. Conclusions: Serum miR-193a-5p levels correlate strongly with NAFLD activity grade and fibrosis stage. MiR-193a-5p may have a role in the hepatic response to oxidative stress and is a potential clinically tractable circulating biomarker for progressive NAFLD. Lay summary: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small pieces of nucleic acid that may turn expression of genes on or off. These molecules can be detected in the blood circulation, and their levels in blood may change in liver disease including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To see if we could detect specific miRNA associated with advanced stages of NAFLD, we carried out miRNA sequencing in a group of 183 patients with NAFLD of varying severity together with 10 population controls. We found that a number of miRNAs showed changes, mainly increases, in serum levels but that 1 particular miRNA miR-193a-5p consistently increased. We confirmed this increase in a second group of cases with NAFLD. Measuring this miRNA in a blood sample may be a useful way to determine whether a patient has advanced NAFLD without an invasive liver biopsy. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). ; Funding Agencies|Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) Program of the European Union [777377]; European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme; EFPIA; Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre; European NAFLD Registry
[Background and Aims] Vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE), point shear wave elastography (pSWE), 2-dimensional shear wave elastography (2DSWE), magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been proposed as non-invasive tests for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study evaluated their diagnostic accuracy for liver fibrosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). ; [Methods] PubMED/MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies examining the diagnostic accuracy of these index tests, against histology as the reference standard, in adult patients with NAFLD. Two authors independently screened and assessed methodological quality of studies and extracted data. Summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (sAUC) were calculated for fibrosis stages and NASH, using a random effects bivariate logit-normal model. ; [Results] We included 82 studies (14,609 patients). Meta-analysis for diagnosing fibrosis stages was possible in 53 VCTE, 11 MRE, 12 pSWE and 4 2DSWE studies, and for diagnosing NASH in 4 MRE studies. sAUC for diagnosis of significant fibrosis were: 0.83 for VCTE, 0.91 for MRE, 0.86 for pSWE and 0.75 for 2DSWE. sAUC for diagnosis of advanced fibrosis were: 0.85 for VCTE, 0.92 for MRE, 0.89 for pSWE and 0.72 for 2DSWE. sAUC for diagnosis of cirrhosis were: 0.89 for VCTE, 0.90 for MRE, 0.90 for pSWE and 0.88 for 2DSWE. MRE had sAUC of 0.83 for diagnosis of NASH. Three (4%) studies reported intention-to-diagnose analyses and 15 (18%) studies reported diagnostic accuracy against pre-specified cut-offs. ; [Conclusions] When elastography index tests are acquired successfully, they have acceptable diagnostic accuracy for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. The potential clinical impact of these index tests cannot be assessed fully as intention-to-diagnose analyses and validation of pre-specified thresholds are lacking. ; [Lay summary] Non-invasive tests that measure liver stiffness or use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been suggested as alternatives to liver biopsy for assessing the severity of liver scarring (fibrosis) and fatty inflammation (steatohepatitis) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we summarise the results of previously published studies on how accurately these non-invasive tests can diagnose liver fibrosis and inflammation, using liver biopsy as the reference. We found that some techniques that measure liver stiffness had a good performance for the diagnosis of severe liver scarring. ; This work has been undertaken as part of the LITMUS (Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis) project. The LITMUS project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 777377. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Europen Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (efpia.eu). ; Peer reviewed
Background & Aims: Genetic factors associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain incompletely understood. To date, most genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have adopted radiologically assessed hepatic triglyceride content as the reference phenotype and so cannot address steatohepatitis or fibrosis. We describe a GWAS encompassing the full spectrum of histologically characterised NAFLD. Methods: The GWAS involved 1,483 European NAFLD cases and 17,781 genetically matched controls. A replication cohort of 559 NAFLD cases and 945 controls was genotyped to confirm signals showing genome-wide or close to genome-wide significance. Results: Case-control analysis identified signals showing p values = F3), the signals on chr2, chr19 and chr22 maintained their genome-wide significance. Except for GCKR/C2ORF16, the genome-wide significance signals were replicated. Conclusions: This study confirms PNPLA3 as a risk factor for the full histological spectrum of NAFLD at genome-wide significance levels, with important contributions from TM6SF2 and HSD17B13. PYGO1 is a novel steatosis modifier, suggesting that Wnt signalling pathways may be relevant in NAFLD pathogenesis. Lay summary: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a common disease where excessive fat accumulates in the liver and may result in cirrhosis. To understand who is at risk of developing this disease and suffering liver damage, we undertook a genetic study to compare the genetic profiles of people suffering from fatty liver disease with genetic profiles seen in the general population. We found that particular sequences in 4 different areas of the human genome were seen at different frequencies in the fatty liver disease cases. These sequences may help predict an individuals risk of developing advanced disease. Some genes where these sequences are located may also be good targets for future drug treatments. (C) 2020 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. ; Funding Agencies|EPoS (Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis) consortium - Horizon 2020 Framework Program of the European Union [634413]; FLIP consortium(EuropeanUnion FP7 grant) [241762]; Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Download ; Carbamazepine (CBZ) causes life-threating T-cell-mediated hypersensitivity reactions, including serious cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) and drug-induced liver injury (CBZ-DILI). In order to evaluate shared or phenotype-specific genetic predisposing factors for CBZ hypersensitivity reactions, we performed a meta-analysis of two genomewide association studies (GWAS) on a total of 43 well-phenotyped Northern and Southern European CBZ-SCAR cases and 10,701 population controls and a GWAS on 12 CBZ-DILI cases and 8,438 ethnically matched population controls. HLA-A*31:01 was identified as the strongest genetic predisposing factor for both CBZ-SCAR (odds ratio (OR) = 8.0; 95% CI 4.10-15.80; P = 1.2 × 10-9 ) and CBZ-DILI (OR = 7.3; 95% CI 2.47-23.67; P = 0.0004) in European populations. The association with HLA-A*31:01 in patients with SCAR was mainly driven by hypersensitivity syndrome (OR = 12.9; P = 2.1 × 10-9 ) rather than by Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis cases, which showed an association with HLA-B*57:01. We also identified a novel risk locus mapping to ALK only for CBZ-SCAR cases, which needs replication in additional cohorts and functional evaluation. ; European Union (EU) European Union (EU) Instituto de Salud Carlos III Medical Research Council UK (MRC) United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID) United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation Swedish Research Council MRC Centre for Drug Safety Science International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (iSAEC) National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research ...
In: Williams , R , Aithal , G , Alexander , G J , Allison , M , Armstrong , I , Aspinall , R , Baker , A , Batterham , R , Brown , K , Burton , R , Cramp , M E , Day , N , Dhawan , A , Drummond , C , Ferguson , J , Foster , G , Gilmore , I , Greenberg , J , Henn , C , Jarvis , H , Kelly , D , Mathews , M , McCloud , A , MacGilchrist , A , McKee , M , Moriarty , K , Morling , J , Newsome , P , Rice , P , Roberts , S , Rutter , H , Samyn , M , Severi , K , Sheron , N , Thorburn , D , Verne , J , Vohra , J , Williams , J & Yeoman , A 2020 , ' Unacceptable failures: the final report of the Lancet Commission into liver disease in the UK ' , The Lancet , vol. 395 , no. 10219 , pp. 226-239 . https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32908-3
This final report of the Lancet Commission into liver disease in the UK stresses the continuing increase in burden of liver disease from excess alcohol consumption and obesity, with high levels of hospital admissions which are worsening in deprived areas. Only with comprehensive food and alcohol strategies based on fiscal and regulatory measures (including a minimum unit price for alcohol, the alcohol duty escalator, and an extension of the sugar levy on food content) can the disease burden be curtailed. Following introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland, alcohol sales fell by 3%, with the greatest effect on heavy drinkers of low-cost alcohol products. We also discuss the major contribution of obesity and alcohol to the ten most common cancers as well as measures outlined by the departing Chief Medical Officer to combat rising levels of obesity—the highest of any country in the west. Mortality of severely ill patients with liver disease in district general hospitals is unacceptably high, indicating the need to develop a masterplan for improving hospital care. We propose a plan based around specialist hospital centres that are linked to district general hospitals by operational delivery networks. This plan has received strong backing from the British Association for Study of the Liver and British Society of Gastroenterology, but is held up at NHS England. The value of so-called day-case care bundles to reduce high hospital readmission rates with greater care in the community is described, along with examples of locally derived schemes for the early detection of disease and, in particular, schemes to allow general practitioners to refer patients directly for elastography assessment. New funding arrangements for general practitioners will be required if these proposals are to be taken up more widely around the country. Understanding of the harm to health from lifestyle causes among the general population is low, with a poor knowledge of alcohol consumption and dietary guidelines. The Lancet Commission has serious doubts about whether the initiatives described in the Prevention Green Paper, with the onus placed on the individual based on the use of information technology and the latest in behavioural science, will be effective. We call for greater coordination between official and non-official bodies that have highlighted the unacceptable disease burden from liver disease in England in order to present a single, strong voice to the higher echelons of government.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a progressive liver disease that is closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, represents an increasing global public health challenge. There is significant variability in the disease course: the majority exhibit only fat accumulation in the liver but a significant minority develop a necroinflammatory form of the disease (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present our understanding of pathogenesis, disease natural history and long-term outcomes remain incomplete. There is a need for large, well characterised patient cohorts that may be used to address these knowledge gaps and to support the development of better biomarkers and novel therapies. The European NAFLD Registry is an international, prospectively recruited observational cohort study that aims to establish a large, highly-phenotyped patient cohort and linked bioresource. Here we describe the infrastructure, data management and monitoring plans, and the standard operating procedures implemented to ensure the timely and systematic collection of high-quality data and samples. Already recruiting subjects at secondary/tertiary care centres across Europe, the Registry is supporting the European Union IMI2-funded LITMUS 'Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis' consortium, which is a major international effort to robustly validate biomarkers that diagnose, risk stratify and/or monitor NAFLD progression and liver fibrosis stage. The European NAFLD Registry has the demonstrable capacity to support research and biomarker development at scale and pace.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a progressive liver disease that is closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, represents an increasing global public health challenge. There is significant variability in the disease course: the majority exhibit only fat accumulation in the liver but a significant minority develop a necroinflammatory form of the disease (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present our understanding of pathogenesis, disease natural history and long-term outcomes remain incomplete. There is a need for large, well characterised patient cohorts that may be used to address these knowledge gaps and to support the development of better biomarkers and novel therapies. The European NAFLD Registry is an international, prospectively recruited observational cohort study that aims to establish a large, highly-phenotyped patient cohort and linked bioresource. Here we describe the infrastructure, data management and monitoring plans, and the standard operating procedures implemented to ensure the timely and systematic collection of high-quality data and samples. Already recruiting subjects at secondary/tertiary care centres across Europe, the Registry is supporting the European Union IMI2-funded LITMUS Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis consortium, which is a major international effort to robustly validate biomarkers that diagnose, risk stratify and/or monitor NAFLD progression and liver fibrosis stage. The European NAFLD Registry has the demonstrable capacity to support research and biomarker development at scale and pace. ; Funding Agencies|LITMUS (Liver Investigation: Testing Biomarker Utility in Steatohepatitis) consortium - European Union Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2) Joint Undertaking from the Horizon 2020 Framework Program of European Union [777377]; EFPIA; EPoS (Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis) consortium - Horizon 2020 Framework Program of the European Union [634413]; FLIP consortium - Framework Program 7 of the European Union [241762]; European Association for the Study of the Liver
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a progressive liver disease that is closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, represents an increasing global public health challenge. There is significant variability in the disease course: the majority exhibit only fat accumulation in the liver but a significant minority develop a necroinflammatory form of the disease (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present our understanding of pathogenesis, disease natural history and long-term outcomes remain incomplete. There is a need for large, well characterised patient cohorts that may be used to address these knowledge gaps and to support the development of better biomarkers and novel therapies. The European NAFLD Registry is an international, prospectively recruited observational cohort study that aims to establish a large, highly-phenotyped patient cohort and linked bioresource. Here we describe the infrastructure, data management and monitoring plans, and the standard operating procedures implemented to ensure the timely and systematic collection of high-quality data and samples. Already recruiting subjects at secondary/tertiary care centres across Europe, the Registry is supporting the European Union IMI2-funded LITMUS 'Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis' consortium, which is a major international effort to robustly validate biomarkers that diagnose, risk stratify and/or monitor NAFLD progression and liver fibrosis stage. The European NAFLD Registry has the demonstrable capacity to support research and biomarker development at scale and pace.