The “Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis” (LITMUS) consortium is a research collaboration aimed at developing, validating, and qualifying better biomarkers for testing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD; now called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, MASLD). Antaros Medical is proud to be part of this initiative, and to be contributing to The LITMUS Imaging Study, for which the study protocol has been recently published.
MASLD (previously NAFLD) occurs when fat builds up in the liver. In some people, it progresses to a more serious condition called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, formerly NASH), raising the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. MASLD is quite common, yet it is challenging for physicians to identify which MASLD patients will go on to develop MASH, and to predict how quickly the disease will progress.
Currently this requires liver biopsy, which is invasive, resource-intensive, and carries a risk of complications to the patient, in addition to be susceptible to sampling bias and so may not be representative of the whole liver. There is an unmet need for non-invasive biomarkers that can reduce our reliance on biopsies.
The aim of The LITMUS Imaging Study is to identify non-invasive imaging modalities that can accurately stage the severity of liver fibrosis in people with MASLD. A large variety of imaging biomarkers will be included using techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) and ultrasound elastography.
Title: Liver investigation: Testing marker utility in steatohepatitis (LITMUS): Assessment & validation of imaging modality performance across the NAFLD spectrum in a prospectively recruited cohort study (the LITMUS imaging study): Study protocol
Authors: Pavlides M, Mózes FE, Akhtar S, Wonders K, Cobbold J, Tunnicliffe EM, Allison M, Godfrey EM, Aithal GP, Francis S, Romero-Gomez M, Castell J, Fernandez-Lizaranzu I, Aller R, Sigüenza González R, Agustin S, Pericás JM, Boursier J, Aube C, Ratziu V, Wagner M, Petta S, Antonucci M, Bugianesi E, Faletti R, Miele L, Geier A, Schattenberg JM, Tilman E, Ekstedt M, Lundberg P, Berzigotti A, Huber AT, Papatheodoridis G, Yki-Järvinen H, Porthan K, Schneider M, Hockings P, Shumbayawonda E, Banerjee R, Pepin K, Kalutkiewicz M, Ehman RL, Trylesinki A, Coxson HO, LITMUS Consortium Investigators, Martic M, Yunis C, Tuthill T, Bossuyt PM, Anstee QM, Neubauer S, Harrison S
Find the publication here.
You can also read more about LITMUS on the dedicated project website or on IMI.
Acknowledgements
This study is funded by 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 EFPIA.