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Review
. 2022 May;43(5):1200-1209.
doi: 10.1038/s41401-022-00874-x. Epub 2022 Feb 14.

Histological assessment based on liver biopsy: the value and challenges in NASH drug development

Xiao-Fei Tong #  1 , Qian-Yi Wang #  1 , Xin-Yan Zhao  1 , Ya-Meng Sun  1 , Xiao-Ning Wu  1 , Li-Ling Yang  1 , Zheng-Zhao Lu  1 , Xiao-Juan Ou  1 , Ji-Dong Jia  1 , Hong You  2
Affiliations
Review

Histological assessment based on liver biopsy: the value and challenges in NASH drug development

Xiao-Fei Tong et al. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2022 May.

Abstract

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is increasingly recognized as a serious disease that can lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and death. However, there is no effective drug to thwart the progression of the disease. Development of new drugs for NASH is an urgent clinical need. Liver biopsy plays a key role in the development of new NASH drugs. Histological findings based on liver biopsy are currently used as the main inclusion criteria and the primary therapeutic endpoint in NASH clinical trials. However, there are inherent challenges in the use of liver biopsy in clinical trials, such as evaluation reliability, sampling error, and invasive nature of the procedure. In this article, we review the advantages and value of liver histopathology based on liver biopsy in clinical trials of new NASH drugs. We also discuss the challenges and limitations of liver biopsy and identify future drug development directions.

Keywords: liver biopsy; new drug development; nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; value and challenges.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Pathological images of  Masson Trichrome staining and SHG/TPEF for liver specimen of a NASH patient with fibrosis.
SHG/TPEF technology for quantification of NASH fibrosis. a. Masson Trichrome staining. b. SHG/TPEF technology for quantification of NASH.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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