Performance of the PRO-C3 collagen neo-epitope biomarker in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & Aim There is an unmet need for non-invasive biomarkers in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that can diagnose advanced disease and identify patients suitable for clinical trials. The PRO-C3 collagen neo-epitope is a putative direct marker of fibrogenesis. We assessed the performance of PRO-C3 in a large, well-characterised international NAFLD cohort and report the development and validation of 2 novel panels for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis (F≥3) in NAFLD, including a simplified clinical score which eliminates the need for online calculators. Methods Plasma PRO-C3 levels were determined in a prospectively recruited international cohort of 449 patients with biopsy …