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LIVER DISEASE

Omics and AI advance biomarker discovery for liver disease

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 1131–1132 (2022)Cite this article

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New technologies allow the noninvasive detection and staging of asymptomatic alcohol-associated liver disease; further refinement of this approach could transform clinical management and improve patient outcomes.

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is one of the leading causes of liver disease worldwide, accounting for over one quarter of deaths related to cirrhosis1. Steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, and fibrosis are distinct histopathological features that mark the progression of ALD to cirrhosis, yet this progression is often asymptomatic and nonspecific, which makes early diagnosis extremely challenging2. ALD is frequently diagnosed by abnormal liver test results or imaging in the setting of a compatible history, and accurate risk assessment requires the synthesis of information across a suite of data modalities, including biochemical, radiological and biopsy-based histological data. Although noninvasive assessments using serum biomarkers and radiological parameters are widely used for characterizing advanced liver disease2, these tests are less accurate for early-stage ALD.

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Fig. 1: Conceptual model of the future of liver-disease management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Tiffany Wu & Vijay H. Shah

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Shawna A. Cooper

Authors
  1. Tiffany Wu
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  2. Shawna A. Cooper
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  3. Vijay H. Shah
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Correspondence to Vijay H. Shah.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Wu, T., Cooper, S.A. & Shah, V.H. Omics and AI advance biomarker discovery for liver disease. Nat Med 28, 1131–1132 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01853-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01853-9

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