DIOS Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mechanisms of Hepatic Iron Overload in Dysmetabolic Iron Overload Syndrome
IRAS ID
218820
Contact name
Emma Ashley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kingston University
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. It occurs in approximately 20% of the population and up to 70% of patients with diabetes. NAFLD can increase the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease. Evidence demonstrates that one third of patients with NAFLD will also develop dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome (DIOS). These individuals are at increased risk of developing metabolic complications such as diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) hepatic and cardiovascular disease. Identification of pathological mechanisms in DIOS could lead to the development of biomarker assays that will identify patients at increased risk. Currently there are no such biomarkers available in hospital laboratories. However, one promising biomarker under investigation is non-transferrin-bound-iron (NTBI).
The main aim of this study is to establish whether NTBI and other novel iron metabolism biomarkers could contribute to a panel of investigations that predict progression to DIOS and NAFLD. Thus, the first objective is to measure NTBI in blood samples collected from patients attending outpatient clinic appointments. The second objective is to identify the expression of hepatic iron transport proteins and develop these biomarker assays to measure these in the laboratory samples. The third objective is to assess these biomarkers in an iron metabolism panel. This study plans to recruit a total of 200 patients from gastroenterology, haematology, diabetes and lipid clinics at Kingston Hospital for a maximum of six years.
In the future, the use of these biomarkers could allow for early intervention in patients who develop DIOS, such as diet and lifestyle, or allow them to have treatments such as venesection (blood donation) to lower their total body iron stores as it is thought that iron may be a promising therapeutic target in these patients.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0891
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion