Rare NAFLD - v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Study into Rare forms of NAFLD
IRAS ID
320985
Contact name
Tessa Cacciottolo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common form of liver disease worldwide, driven by obesity and diabetes. In a proportion of patients, NAFLD progresses to an inflammatory condition, known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), leading to scar formation, known as fibrosis and cirrhosis. To date, there are no known effective treatments for NAFLD, partly because the underlying disease process is poorly understood.
Whilst the majority of patients are obese, and come to medical attention later on in life, up to a fifth of patients are slim, and the condition sometimes occurs in childhood. We think that such patients are likely to have stronger genetic drivers of disease compared to the rest of the population, meaning that they develop the condition at a much faster rate (children) or in the absence of obesity (lean NAFLD). We propose to study people with NAFLD arising in these unusual circumstances.
Participants will be invited to attend our dedicated Translational Research Facility for scans determining how much of the body consists of muscle and fat, and how much fat and scarring is contained within the liver. This will be followed by blood tests to test for fats, sugars and hormones in the blood as well as faulty genes, which could be contributing to the development of NAFLD.
The findings will help us gain new insights into the drivers of disease, and has the potential to inform novel therapeutic strategies.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0046
Date of REC Opinion
14 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion