Liver fibrosis is a serious disease that affects around 350–400 million people worldwide. The main approach for fibrosis staging is liver biopsy, which is an invasive procedure that is not endured pretty well by patients. Currently, some serum-based biomarker panels are available for diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis. Recent high-throughput proteomic studies are also very promising for identification of novel biomarkers for diagnosis and/or treatment of liver fibrosis. We hereby review the application of proteomic profiling studies for identification of fibrosis biomarkers with their advantages and drawbacks.
Part of the book: Advances in Treatment of Hepatitis C and B