Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Feb 27, 2024; 16(2): 112-114
Published online Feb 27, 2024. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v16.i2.112
New markers of fibrosis in hepatitis C: A step towards the Holy Grail?
Konstantinos John Dabos
Konstantinos John Dabos, Department of Hepatology, St Hohn's Hospital, Livingston EH54 6PP, West Lothian, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Dabos KJ wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Konstantinos Dabos declares no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Konstantinos John Dabos, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Hepatology, St Hohn's Hospital, Howden Road West, Livingston EH54 6PP, West lothian, United Kingdom. konstantinos.dabos@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Received: November 15, 2023
Peer-review started: November 15, 2023
First decision: December 5, 2023
Revised: December 12, 2023
Accepted: January 12, 2024
Article in press: January 12, 2024
Published online: February 27, 2024
Abstract

In the present issue of the World Journal of Hepatology, Ferrassi et al examine the problem of liver fibrosis staging in chronic hepatitis C. They identify novel biomarkers in an effort to predict accurate fibrosis staging with the aid of the metabolome of Hepatitis C patients. Overall I think Ferrassi et al took a different approach in identifying fibrosis biomarkers, by looking at the patients’ metabolome. Their biomarkers clearly separate patients from controls. They can also separate out, patients with minimal fibrosis (F0-F1 stage) and patients with cirrhosis (F4 stage). Obviously, if these biomarkers were to be widely used, tests for all the important metabolites would need to be readily available for use in hospitals or outpatient setting and that may prove difficult and above all, costly. Nevertheless, this step could eventually lead to a metabolomic approach for novel biomarkers of Fibrosis. Obviously, it would need to be validated, but could represent a step towards the Holy Grail of Hepatology.

Keywords: Hepatitis C metabolomics, Fibrosis, Non invasive markers, Metavir

Core Tip: A novel approach for identifying non-invasive biomarkers as a step towards an accurate serological tool for fibrosis staging in hepatitis C.