Identification and Validation of Noninvasive Biomarkers of the Diagnosis and Severity of NASH in Type 2 Diabetics

Metabolic diseases of the liver are silent affections whose morbidity is important. About 70% of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are concerned. Of these, 50% develop clinically significant lesions (including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH) as they are associated with an increased risk of complications; and 15% progress to severe fibrosis or cirrhosis. These diseases are slowly progressive and asymptomatic. Their pathophysiology is poorly known. Management is hampered by the absence of a specific diagnostic marker, the need for invasive diagnostic procedures (liver biopsy), and the lack of established treatment. QUID-NASH aims to develop a virtual liver biopsy in T2D participants, based on the identification of single or combined, multimodal, non-invasive biomarkers obtained by new quantitative imaging techniques (magnetic resonance and ultrafast ultrasound UFUS); and /or extensive clinical-biological phenotyping data; and/or data obtained by different omic approaches (metabolomics, targeted genetics, transcriptomics). Extracellular vesicle and immune cell profiling will complement these phenotyping data. This approach will also enable us to improve our understanding of pathophysiology (new signaling pathways, new therapeutic targets).