Browsing by Author "Gawrieh, Samer"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 28
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ADH1B*2 is Associated With Reduced Severity of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Adults, Independent of Alcohol Consumption
    (Elsevier, 2020) Vilar-Gomez, Eduardo; Sookoian, Silvia; Pirola, Carlos Jose; Liang, Tiebing; Gawrieh, Samer; Cummings, Oscar; Liu, Wanqing; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background & Aims Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) is involved in alcohol metabolism. The allele A ( ADH1B*2) of rs1229984: A>G variant in ADH1B is associated a higher alcohol metabolizing activity, compared to the ancestral allele G ( ADH1B*1). Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), based on histologic analysis, compared with no alcohol consumption. However, it is unclear whether ADH1B*2 modifies the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and severity of NAFLD. We examined the association between ADH1B*2 and moderate alcohol consumption and histologic severity of NAFLD. Methods We collected data from 1557 multi-ethnic adult patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD enrolled into 4 different studies conducted by the NASH Clinical Research Network. Histories of alcohol consumption were obtained from answers to standardized questionnaires. Liver biopsies were analyzed by histology and scored centrally according to the NASH CRN criteria. We performed covariate adjusted logistic regressions to identify associations between histologic features of NAFLD severity and moderate alcohol consumption and/or ADH1B*2. Results A higher proportion of Asians/Pacific Islanders/Hawaiians carried the ADH1B*2 allele (86%) than other racial groups (4%–13%). However, the study population comprised mostly non-Hispanic whites (1153 patients, 74%), so the primary analysis focused on this group. Among them, 433 were moderate drinkers and 90 were ADH1B*2 carriers. After we adjusted for confounders, including alcohol consumption status, ADH1B*2 was associated with lower frequency of steatohepatitis (odds ratio [OR], 0.52; P<.01) or fibrosis (odds ratio, 0.69; P=.050) compared with ADH1B*1. Moderate alcohol consumption (g/day) reduced the severity of NAFLD in patients with ADH1B*1 or ADH1B*2. However, ADH1B*2, compared to ADH1B*1, was associated with a reduced risk of definite NASH ( ADH1B*2 OR, 0.80; P<.01 vs ADH1B*1 OR, 0.96; P=.036) and a reduced risk of an NAFLD activity score of 4 or higher ( ADH1B*2 OR, 0.83; P=.012 vs ADH1B*1 OR, 0.96; P=.048) ( P<.01 for the difference in the effect of moderate alcohol consumption between alleles). The relationship between body mass index and NAFLD severity was significantly modified by ADH1B*2, even after we controlled for alcohol consumption. Conclusions ADH1B*2 reduces the risk of NASH and fibrosis in adults with NAFLD regardless of alcohol consumption status. ADH1B*2 might modify the association between high body mass index and NAFLD severity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Apolipoprotein B and PNPLA3 Double Heterozygosity in a Father–Son Pair With Advanced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
    (Wiley, 2019) Jansson-Knodell, Claire L.; Gawrieh, Samer; McIntyre, Adam D.; Liang, Tiebing; Hegele, Robert A.; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Autoimmune Hepatitis in the Elderly: Diagnosis and Pharmacologic Management
    (Springer, 2018-07) Rizvi, Syed; Gawrieh, Samer; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) may present as acute or chronic hepatitis in the elderly. Advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis are common on first presentation in this population. In this review, we discuss the presentation, approach to diagnosis and management of AIH in the elderly. As polypharmacy is common in the elderly, careful medication use history is essential for detecting drug-induced AIH-like hepatitis. Steroid-sparing or minimizing therapeutic regimens are preferred to treat AIH in the elderly. For the purpose of induction, budesonide or lower dose prednisone in combination with azathioprine (AZA) regimens are preferred over high-dose prednisone monotherapy due to the higher risk of side effects of the later in the elderly. The goal of maintenance therapy should be to achieve full biochemical and histologic remission. Bone density monitoring and interventions to prevent steroid-related bone disease should be implemented throughout the course of the disease. Liver transplantation should be considered in the elderly patient with liver failure or early hepatocellular carcinoma if there are no significant comorbidities or compromise in functional status.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Automated assessment of steatosis in murine fatty liver
    (PLOS, 2018-05-10) Sethunath, Deepak; Morusu, Siripriya; Tuceryan, Mihran; Cummings, Oscar W.; Zhang, Hao; Yin, Xiao-Ming; Vanderbeck, Scott; Chalasani, Naga; Gawrieh, Samer; Computer and Information Science, School of Science
    Although mice are commonly used to study different aspects of fatty liver disease, currently there are no validated fully automated methods to assess steatosis in mice. Accurate detection of macro- and microsteatosis in murine models of fatty liver disease is important in studying disease pathogenesis and detecting potential hepatotoxic signature during drug development. Further, precise quantification of macrosteatosis is essential for quantifying effects of therapies. Here, we develop and validate the performance of automated classifiers built using image processing and machine learning methods for detection of macro- and microsteatosis in murine fatty liver disease and study the correlation of automated quantification of macrosteatosis with expert pathologist’s semi-quantitative grades. The analysis is performed on digital images of 27 Hematoxylin & Eosin stained murine liver biopsy samples. An expert liver pathologist scored the amount of macrosteatosis and also annotated macro- and microsteatosis lesions on the biopsy images using a web-application. Using these annotations, supervised machine learning and image processing techniques, we created classifiers to detect macro- and microsteatosis. For macrosteatosis prediction, the model’s precision, sensitivity and area under the receiver operator characteristic (AUROC) were 94.2%, 95%, 99.1% respectively. When correlated with pathologist’s semi-quantitative grade of steatosis, the model fits with a coefficient of determination value of 0.905. For microsteatosis prediction, the model has precision, sensitivity and AUROC of 79.2%, 77%, 78.1% respectively. Validation by the expert pathologist of classifier’s predictions made on unseen images of biopsy samples showed 100% and 63% accuracy for macro- and microsteatosis, respectively. This novel work demonstrates that fully automated assessment of steatosis is feasible in murine liver biopsies images. Our classifier has excellent sensitivity and accuracy for detection of macrosteatosis in murine fatty liver disease.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Automatic quantification of lobular inflammation and hepatocyte ballooning in NAFLD liver biopsies
    (Elsevier, 2015) Vanderbeck, Scott; Bockhorst, Joseph; Kleiner, David; Komorowski, Richard; Chalasani, Naga; Gawrieh, Samer; Department of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    Automatic quantification of cardinal histologic features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may reduce human variability and allow continuous rather than semiquantitative assessment of injury. We recently developed an automated classifier that can detect and quantify macrosteatosis with greater than or equal to 95% precision and recall (sensitivity). Here, we report our early results on the classifier's performance in detecting lobular inflammation and hepatocellular ballooning. Automatic quantification of lobular inflammation and ballooning was performed on digital images of hematoxylin and eosin–stained slides of liver biopsy samples from 59 individuals with normal liver histology and varying severity of NAFLD. Two expert hepatopathologists scored liver biopsies according the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis clinical research network scoring system and provided annotations of lobular inflammation and hepatocyte ballooning on the digital images. The classifier had precision and recall of 70% and 49% for lobular inflammation, and 91% and 54% for hepatocyte ballooning. In addition, the classifier had an area under the curve of 95% for lobular inflammation and 98% for hepatocyte ballooning. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient for comparison with pathologist grades was 45.2% for lobular inflammation and 46% for hepatocyte ballooning. Our novel observations demonstrate that automatic quantification of cardinal NAFLD histologic lesions is feasible and offer promise for further development of automatic quantification as a potential aid to pathologists evaluating NAFLD biopsies in clinical practice and clinical trials.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Characteristics, aetiologies and trends of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients without cirrhosis: A United States multicentre study
    (Wiley, 2019-10) Gawrieh, Samer; Dakhoul, Lara; Miller, Ethan; Scanga, Andrew; deLemos, Andrew; Kettler, Carla; Burney, Heather; Liu, Hao; Abu-Sbeih, Hamzah; Chalasani, Naga; Wattacheril, Julia; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background Limited data exist on the burden and features of non‐cirrhotic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States. Aim To evaluate characteristics, aetiologies, trends and outcomes of non‐cirrhotic HCC from 2000 to 2014 at five large US centres Methods Patient, tumour and liver disease aetiology data were collected. The presence of underlying cirrhosis was assessed based on published criteria. Results Of 5144 eligible patients with HCC, 11.7% had no underlying cirrhosis. Non‐cirrhotic patients were older (64.1 vs 61.2 years), more frequently females (33.9% vs 20.8%) and less frequently black (8.3% vs 12.4%) (P < .001 for all). Among non‐cirrhotic patients, non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was the most common liver disease (26.3%), followed by hepatitis C virus (HCV) (12.1%) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) (10%) infections. As of 2014, there was increased percentage of cirrhotic HCC and a decline in non‐cirrhotic HCC mainly due to significant annual increases in cirrhotic HCC due to HCV (0.96% [P < .0001]) and NAFLD (0.66% [P = .003]). Patients with non‐cirrhotic HCC had larger tumours (8.9 vs 5.3 cm), were less frequently within Milan criteria (15% vs 39%), more frequently underwent resection (43.6% vs 8%) (P < .001 for all) and had better overall survival than cirrhotic HCC patients (median 1.8 vs 1.3 years, P = .004). Conclusions Nearly 12% of HCCs occurred in patients without underlying cirrhosis. NAFLD was the most common liver disease in these patients. During the study, the frequency of non‐cirrhotic HCC decreased, whereas that of cirrhotic HCC increased. Although non‐cirrhotic patients presented with more advanced HCC, their survival was better.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Mild to Moderate Alcoholic Hepatitis
    (Wiley, 2019) Samala, Niharika; Gawrieh, Samer; Tang, Qing; Lourens, Spencer G.; Shah, Vijay H.; Sanyal, Arun J.; Liangpunsakul, Suthat; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction & Aim Much is known about alcoholic hepatitis (AH) that is severe enough to require hospitalisation. The characteristics of individuals with alcoholic hepatitis presenting with mild to moderate severity are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the risk factors, characteristics and outcomes of mild to moderate AH (M‐AH). Methods A total of 255 individuals with AH enrolled into a multicenter, prospective, observational study between 12/2014 and 4/2018 was included. Participants were seen at enrollment, 6 and 12 months. M‐AH was defined as MELD ≤20 at presentation, whereas severe AH as MELD ≥21. Results In total, 100 individuals had M‐AH, whereas 155 had severe AH. Individuals with M‐AH were older (49 vs 44 years, P = 0.01), had lower BMI (27 vs 31 kg/m2, P = 0.0007) and more likely to be male (68% vs 55%, P = 0.046) compared to the severe AH group. A higher proportion in the M‐AH group consumed coffee in the last 5 years compared to the severe AH group (29% vs 18%, P = 0.03), and fewer had PNPLA3 risk allele G (P = 0.019) compared to the severe AH group. Average drinks per drinking day (12.9 vs 10.7, P = 0.13) and total number of drinks in last 30‐day period (331 vs 280, P = 0.14) were not different between two groups. Compared to severe AH, patients with M‐AH had significantly lower mortality at 30 days (2% vs 13.6%), 90 days (3% vs 22.6%) and 12 months (10.4% vs 31.4%) (P < 0.001 for all). Conclusions Individuals with M‐AH were older, less obese, drank coffee more often and carried more favourable PNPLA3 genotype compared to severe AH, despite similar alcohol consumption. M‐AH had substantial mortality with one in ten dying by 12 months.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Decreased Quality of Life is Significantly Associated with Body Composition in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
    (Elsevier, 2020) Samala, Niharika; Desai, Archita; Vilar, Eduardo; Smith, Emily R.; Gawrieh, Samer; Kettler, Carla D.; Pike, Francis; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background & Aims We studied impaired quality of life (QOL) and its determinants among individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods We collected data from 341 patients with NAFLD who completed the short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Body composition and liver fibrosis were assessed in patients with NAFLD using bioelectrical impedance and transient elastography, respectively. Advanced fibrosis was defined as liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) of 12.1 kPa or greater. SF-36 scores of patients with NAFLD were compared with SF36 scores of individuals with chronic medical illnesses and the general population obtained from the published literature. Results Among patients with NAFLD, percent body fat was negatively associated with scores from all 8 SF-36 scales, whereas lean body mass was positively associated with scores from 5 of 8 SF-36 scales. On multivariable analysis, SF-36 PF scores were negatively associated with type 2 diabetes, body mass index, and LSM and positively associated with lean body mass and level of alanine aminotransferase. Patients with NAFLD, and even those without advanced fibrosis, had significantly lower mean QOL scores than the control group or the general population. Conclusions Individuals with NAFLD, even those without advanced fibrosis, have lower QOL than controls. Body composition associates with QOL in patients with NAFLD; both of the modifiable factors independently associated with QOL are related to body composition. Further studies are needed to investigate if interventions to improve body composition can increase QOL for patients with NAFLD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Distinctive Features and Outcomes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease: A US Multicenter Study
    (Wolters Kluwer Health, 2020-03) deLemos, Andrew; Patel, Milin; Gawrieh, Samer; Burney, Heather; Dakhoul, Lara; Miller, Ethan; Scanga, Andrew; Kettler, Carla; Liu, Hao; Roche, Patrick; Wattacheril, Julia; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: The burden of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurring in patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is increasing at an alarming rate. The aims of this study were to compare the patient and tumor characteristics of HCC occurring in ALD-alone relative to and in addition to other chronic liver diseases. Methods: Patients diagnosed with HCC between 2000 and 2014 were identified at 5 US clinical centers. The patients were categorized as ALD-alone, ALD plus viral hepatitis, or a non-ALD etiology. Clinical and tumor characteristics among the 3 groups were compared, and survival probability was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The frequency of noncirrhotic HCC was compared across the 3 groups. Results: A total of 5,327 patients with HCC were analyzed. Six hundred seventy (12.6%) developed HCC due to underlying ALD. Ninety-one percent of ALD-related HCC arose in men, in contrast to non-ALD etiologies where men accounted for 70% of HCCs cases (P < 0.001). Patients with ALD-alone-related HCC were older at diagnosis and had tumors less likely to be detected as part of routine surveillance. The ALD-alone cohort was least likely to be within the Milan criteria and to undergo liver transplantation. Overall survival in the ALD-alone HCC cohort was lower than the other 2 groups (1.07 vs 1.31 vs 1.41 years, P < 0.001). HCC in the noncirrhotic ALD cohorts occurred in only 3.5% of the patients compared with 15.7% in patients with non-ALD etiologies (P < 0.001). Discussion: HCC occurring in patients with ALD occurred mostly in older men and almost exclusively in a cirrhotic background. They present with advanced tumors, and their survival is lower than HCCs occurring in non-ALD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Emerging Treatments for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
    (Elsevier, 2018-02) Gawrieh, Samer; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
    This review discusses completed phase II randomized clinical trials with high-quality published results for compounds that demonstrate effects on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis histology (obeticholic acid, elafibranor, and liraglutide). The authors also review the available preliminary data on cenicriviroc and selonsertib, with or without simtuzumab’s phase II studies. Finally, the authors briefly discuss compounds that have been tested but did not achieve the primary end point of histologic improvement and appeared in high-quality published articles (cysteamine bitartrate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids).