Publications

Background & aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disorder with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) being a more progressive phenotype associated with progression to cirrhosis. Type III collagen is a main component of the fibrotic extracellular matrix. PRO-C3 is a b...

Read the publication

• Extracellular matrix (ECM);
• Extracellular Matrix Research
• Biomarker Insights
• Liver Fibrosis
• Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis
• Biomarkers

Objectives: There is a need for precision medicine and an unspoken promise of an optimal approach for identification of the right patients for value-based medicine based on big data. However, there may be a misconception that measurement of proteins is more valuable than measurement of fewer selecte...

Read the publication

• Biomarker Insights
• Extracellular Matrix Research

Background: Liver fibrosis accumulation is considered a turnover disease, with formation exceeding degradation, although this hypothesis has never been tested in humans. Aims: To investigate extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling in a biopsy-controlled study of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) p...

Read the publication

• Liver Fibrosis
• Extracellular matrix (ECM);
• Alcoholic Liver Disease

Background & aims: Progressive fibrosis has been identified as the major predictor of mortality in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Several biomarkers are currently being evaluated for their ability to substitute the liver biopsy as the reference standard. Recent clinical...

Read the publication

• Liver Fibrosis
• Biomark Insights

Background: Rupture of atherosclerotic plaques is the major cause of acute cardiovascular events. The biomarker PRO-C6 measuring Endotrophin, a matrikine of collagen type VI, may provide valuable information detecting subjects in need of intensified strategies for secondary prevention. Objective: I...

Read the publication

• Biomarkers
• Endotrophin
• atherosclerosis
• Extracellular matrix (ECM);

Background and objective: Prediction of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) progression is vital for the choice and timing of treatment and patient follow-up. This could potentially be achieved by prognostic blood biomarkers of extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling. Methods: Neoepitope biomarkers ...

Read the publication

• Biomarkers
• Extracellular matrix (ECM);
• Biomarker Insights
• Extracellular Matrix Research
• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis has been identified as a main factor leading to pulmonary dysfunction and poor quality of life in post-recovery Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) survivor's consequent to SARS-Cov-2 infection. Thus there is an urgent medical need for identification of readily available biom...

Read the publication

• Biomarkers
• Extracellular matrix (ECM);
• Extracellular Matrix Research
• IPF

Introduction: Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease is common, with fibrosis the major determinant of adverse outcomes. Population-based screening tools with high diagnostic accuracy for the staging of fibrosis are lacking. Methods: Three independent cohorts, 2 with both liver biopsy and liver s...

Read the publication

• Liver Fibrosis

New therapeutic strategies are needed for the growing unmet clinical needs in liver disease and fibrosis. Platelet activation and PDGF activity are recognized as important therapeutic targets; however, no therapeutic approach has yet addressed these two upstream drivers of liver fibrosis. We therefo...

Read the publication

Purpose: Non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing and prognosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are urgently needed. Cirrhosis is present in 80-90% of HCC patients. Cirrhosis is characterized by deposition and cross-linking of collagens that have crucial roles in HCC initiation and progression. We eva...

Read the publication

• Extracellular Matrix Research
• Fibrosis
• Liver Cancer
• Tumor Microenvironment

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by abnormal epithelial repair resulting in a hypercoagulable state with intra-alveolar accumulation of fibrin and alveolar basement membrane destruction. This study aimed to investigate if the combination of two serological bi...

Read the publication

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The effect of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy on extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover, a prominent feature of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), is unknown. ECM protein degradation and formation generate fragments reflecting the tissue turnover balance when quantified in the blood. PRO-C3 and PRO-C4 re...

Read the publication

Background & aims: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) are phenotypically distinct autoimmune liver diseases that progress to cirrhosis and liver failure; however, their histological fibrosis distribution differs. We investigated...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases

There is an unmet need for high-quality liquid biomarkers that can safely and reproducibly predict the stage of fibrosis and the outcomes of chronic liver disease (CLD). The requirement for such markers has intensified because of the high global prevalence of diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liv...

Read the publication

• Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is a hallmark of the pathology of gastrointestinal disorders. Collagen type VI (COL6) is produced by fibroblasts, and the COL6 α3-chain has shown to be elevated in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Measuring...

Read the publication

• Gastrointestinal

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by a slow heterogeneous progression. Therefore, improved biomarkers that can accurately identify patients with the highest likelihood of progression and therefore the ability to benefit from a given treatment, are needed. Elastin is an es...

Read the publication

• Respiratory diseases
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic inflammation and lung tissue deterioration. Given the high vascularity of the lung, von Willebrand factor (VWF), a central component of wound healing initiation, has previously been assessed in COPD. VWF processing,...

Read the publication

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Respiratory diseases

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are common causes of chronic liver disease. The overlap between ALD and NAFLD suggests the existence of metabolic steatohepatitis. Development of in vivo models that reflect various aspects of human steatohepatitis is essenti...

Read the publication

• Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis
• Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

An altered liver microenvironment characterized by a dysregulated extracellular matrix (ECM) supports the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The development of experimental platforms able to reproduce these physio-pathological conditions is essential in order to identify ...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis
• Oncology
• Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by abnormal epithelial repair process that may result in intra-airway accumulation of fibrin. Given that plasma fibrinogen is the only FDA approved biomarker that predicts mortality and COPD exacerbations, we hypothesized that...

Read the publication

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Respiratory diseases

Therapies to reduce liver fibrosis and stimulate organ regeneration are urgently needed. We conducted a first-in-human, phase 1 dose-escalation trial of autologous macrophage therapy in nine adults with cirrhosis and a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score of 10-16 (ISRCTN 10368050). Groups...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle modifications remain the cornerstone of treatment in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, they requently fail related to the inability of patients to implement lasting changes. AIMS: To evaluate the effects of a short, web-based, individualised exercise program ...

Read the publication

• Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

Following liver transplantation (LT), 10-30% of patients develop recurrent cirrhosis (RC). There is an urgent need for predictive non-invasive markers for improved monitoring of these patients. Here we studied extracellular matrix biomarkers as predictors of RC after LT. Forty-seven LT patients were...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterised by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and remodelling. Measuring this activity provides an opportunity to develop tools capable of identifying individuals at-risk of progression. Longitudinal change in markers of ECM synthesis was ass...

Read the publication

• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Respiratory diseases

Background and aims: Although combined antiretroviral treatment (cART) has improved overall survival of HIV infected patients, liver fibrosis and liver related-mortality still constitute major challenges in HIV positive patients. Collagen accumulates in the liver during fibrogenesis. Recent studies ...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the utility of plasma fragments of propeptides of type III (PRO-C3), V (PRO-C5), and VI (PRO-C6) procollagen for the detection of liver fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients with T2DM (n = 191) underwent an or...

Read the publication

• Endocrinology
• Type 2-Diabetes
• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a prevalent disease that is highly associated with the metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes. The development of in vivo models that reflect all nuances of the human NASH pathology is essential for drug discovery and development. We aimed to furt...

Read the publication

• Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis
• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis

OBJECTIVES: Portal hypertension in cirrhosis is associated with endothelial dysfunction, impaired wound healing, and decreased platelet count. Increased von Willebrand factor (VWF) formation has been suggested as a compensatory mechanism, but the role of VWF processing has not been directly assessed...

Read the publication

• Gastrointestinal
• Hepatic Diseases

OBJECTIVES: Remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a key event in different lung disorders, such as fibrosis and cancer. The most common cell type in the connective tissue is fibroblasts, which transdifferentiate into myofibroblasts upon activation. All myofibroblasts express α-SMA, which h...

Read the publication

• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Respiratory diseases

BACKGROUND AIMS: Remodelling of extracellular matrix is crucial in progressive liver fibrosis. Collagen type III desposition has been shown in acute decompensation. Extratracellular matrix is compiled of deposition of various components. The role of basement membrane collagen type IV in advanced cir...

Read the publication

• Hepatic Diseases
• Fibrosis