Open AccessKeratin-18: Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Theragnostic for Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis
Author(s) -
Craig J. McClain,
Vatsalya Vatsalya,
Mack C. Mitchell
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the american journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.907
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1572-0241
pISSN - 0002-9270
DOI - 10.14309/ajg.0000000000001042
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis , dermatology , alcohol , biochemistry , chemistry
It is still sometimes difficult to differentiate alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) from other liver problems. In this edition of AJG, Atkinson et al. showed that keratin-18 (intermediate filament protein) is a promising biomarker for predicting histological severity of AH, defining the type of hepatocyte death (necrosis vs apoptosis), predicting 90-day mortality, and predicting the response to corticosteroid therapy in severe AH. The authors conclude that K18 is diagnostic, prognostic, and may be a theragnostic marker for prednisolone therapy and note that "serum K18 estimation should be adopted into routine clinical practice." We agree.