The summaries are free for public
use. The Chronic Liver Disease
Foundation will continue to add and
archive summaries of articles deemed
relevant to CLDF by the Board of
Trustees and its Advisors.
Abstract Details
Microbiome Biomarkers: One Step Closer in NAFLD-Cirrhosis
Hepatology. 2020 Nov 29. doi: 10.1002/hep.31660. Online ahead of print.
Tracey G Simon123, Andrew T Chan123456, Curtis Huttenhower567
Author information
1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States.
2Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
3Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit (CTEU), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States.
4Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
5Broad Institute, Boston, MA, United States.
6Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
7Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Among those with NAFLD, up to 30% will develop progressive steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis, which can ultimately lead to cirrhosis, decompensated liver disease, and death. Despite the rapidly growing incidence of NAFLD-cirrhosis, it often goes undiagnosed, and delayed diagnoses of cirrhosis contribute to substantially increased morbidity and mortality. Thus, it is vitally important to develop non-invasive screening tools to accurately identify NAFLD-cirrhosis before potentially life-threatening complications arise.