Identification of urokinase-type plasminogen, matrix metalloproteinase 9, and β-2-microglobulin as novel biomarkers associated with liver fibrosis and uses thereof in diagnosing liver fibrosis.

Provided are therapeutic, diagnostic, and prognostic methods for disease, including diseases associated with fibrosis and cancer using agents that bind to, inhibit, and/or detect lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2), and agents, compositions, kits, assay systems, and devices for use with such methods.

Provided herein are methods for treating cholestasis in a subject having a liver disease. The method includes administering to the subject an Apical Sodium-dependent Bile Acid Transporter (ASBTI). More specifically, the present invention relates to methods for treating cholestasis in a subject where the method includes administering an ASBTI to a subject at a dose of at least 10 μg/kg/day.

Methods for identification and quantification of bile acids are disclosed. Bile acids in plasma, serum and/or blood such as a dried blood spot are used to identify subjects with a Niemann-Pick disease. The methods include measuring levels of a bile acid, such as 3β,5α,6β-trihydroxycholanic acid, N-(3β,5α,6β-trihydroxy-cholan-24-oyl)glycine, N-(3β,5α,6β-trihydroxy-cholan-24-oyl)taurine, or a combination thereof. Detection of bile acids involve mass spectroscopy and/or a combination of mass spectroscopy and liquid chromatography such as a LC-MS/MS assay. The methods can be used with sphingomyelinase assays to detect, diagnose and differentiate between Niemann-Pick A/B and Niemann-Pick C (NPC) disease.

The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing a liver disease in a mammal comprising the step of determining the amount of a product encoded by the NOG gene in a biological fluid sample of said mammal and diagnosing a liver disease if the amount of the product encoded by the NOG gene in the sample of said mammal is different from the amount of the product encoded by the NOG gene determined in a sample of a healthy mammal.

The present invention relates to the field of fibrosis and inflammation and more particularly to the use of ADAM12 (A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 12) inhibitors to prevent or treat inflammation-induced fibrosis. The present invention also relates to the use of ADAM12 as a marker for inflammation-induced fibrosis and to the ablation of ADAM12 expressing cells as therapeutic approach to interfere with the development of pro-fibrotic cells.

Disclosed are biomarker panels for evaluating subjects at risk of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) early after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In particular, the present disclosure relates to the use of one or more of ST2, ANG2, L-Ficolin, HA, and VCAM1 for prognosing, diagnosing, and/or treating SOS.

Monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to M.96. Also included are methods of using these antibodies to treat mammals having or at risk of having 006-mediated diseases, or to diagnose % Qmediated diseases.

Methods useful for sustaining a reduction of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis are provided herein. Such methods may comprise administering to a subject in need thereof a sirtuin pathway activator and/or PDE5 inhibitor alone or in combination with an amount of a branched amino acid in free amino acid form, or a metabolite thereof. Also provided herein are compositions and kits for practicing any of the methods described herein.

A Disease Severity Index (DSI) is provided for assessment of chronic liver disease in a patient using non-invasive liver function test results. A DSI was derived from non-invasive liver function test results based on hepatic blood flow. The DSI is used in methods for prediction of clinical outcomes, prediction of response to antiviral treatment, and assessment of progression of chronic liver diseases. Non-invasive methods to diagnose three distinct categories of patients with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) are provided. The methods can be used to diagnose PSC patients as Slow Progressors, Moderate Progressors and Rapid Progressors.