A. Sidney Barritt, MD: An Update on TARGET-NASH

Every day we might be getting closer and closer to finding a suitable treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

TARGET-NASH is an observational study of participants with NAFLD and/or NASH in usual clinical practice and is part of a series of Target RWE studies focused on several diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and asthma.

The most recent update, the investigators looked closer at liver biopsies, to see if any information can be derived from these biopsies in concordance with the features of these diseases. They also compared a clinical definition of NASH with a pathologists reading of the biopsy results.

In an interview with HCPLive®, A. Sidney Barritt IV, MD, MSCR, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Director, UNC Liver Center, gave an update on the ongoing study.

There are currently more than 6000 patients enrolled and the study is currently expanding to different centers in Europe.

Barritt said expanding to more centers is important because NASH is a heterogenous disease, especially when patients have only 2 or 3 of the most common risk factors.

These risk factors are more or less prevalent depending on where you are in the world.