Vienna University. Austria: 40 percent of people in the EU suffer from non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis (fatty liver disease), a disease which is becoming
increasingly more frequent as a result of diabetes and excess weight in
an affluent society. Currently, it is not possible to forecast the
further course of the disease – right up to cirrhosis and cancer of the
liver. Furthermore, an increased risk of heart attack and kidney damage
exists. In future, this should become possible using a Risk Score with
different biomarkers.
This Risk Score is being developed and
validated at the Clinical Department for Gastroenterology and
Hepatology at the MedUni Wien in cooperation with the University Clinics
for Surgery and Radiology / Nuclear Medicine and partners from the
industry. The project is also integrated into the new Austrian centre of
competence "CBmed", which the MedUni Wien is involved in to 20 percent.
The objective is to find biomarkers for clinical use in order
to facilitate a non-invasive evaluation of the risk, i.e. without a
liver biopsy. The initial results are extremely promising, according to
Michael Trauner, Head of the Department for Gastroenterology and
Hepatology (University Clinic for Internal Medicine III): "We can assume
that, in the end, there will be a mixture of biomarkers from which a
Risk Score can be compiled." This mix will include markers from blood,
from the microbiome in the intestine and genetic markers, and markers
from imaging processes including the latest applications of
Positron-Emission-Tomography (PET).
"As a result, we will be
able to estimate the course of the disease better in future, and
therefore will be better able to answer the question of ‘how will it
develop’ than before, if a liver steatohepatitis already exists", says
Trauner. At the same time, within the scope of personalised medicine, it
is then also easier to take the correct therapeutic steps in due time.
Around
40 percent of the population are already affected by non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis, which can lead to hepatitis (fatty liver hepatitis) and
cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.
The disease is strongly
connected with diabetes, excess weight or a metabolic syndrome, but also
with genetic processes and changes to the intestinal microbiome.
Incidentally, the term "non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" was coined by
the Viennese hepatologist Heribert Thaler (a pupil of Hans Popper) in
the 1960s and later picked up by American researchers.
CBmed - application-orientated research
Thanks
to the new Austrian centre of competence "CBmed", which was initiated
at the end of January 2015 and in which also researchers of the MedUni
Graz are involved, the financial framework conditions and resources for
this MedUni Wien project are to be improved. Trauner: "CBmed is a
perfect example for the merger of two medical universities in a
large-scale project – to their mutual benefit." The MedUni Wien is
conducting research in an application-orientated manner within the scope
of "CBmed", but also in the subject areas of cancer screening and
"circulating tumour cells".
"The MedUni Wien is involved with
biomarkers in many of its research topics and has therefore participated
in this new centre, which will represent an outstanding connection
between fundamental research right up to new treatment strategies and
medicines. The integration of research efforts and cooperation with
appropriately equipped partners – over and above regional borders –
represents an optimum prerequisite for comprehensive and successful
research in these fields. We expect the successful identification and
validation of new biomarkers as a result of systematic biomarker
research. This is key to the development of new personalised treatment
concepts and new medicines", explains Franz Wurm, Vice-president for
Finance at the MedUni Wien and Chairman of the Supervisory Board CBmed
GmbH.