MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of serum as a promising diagnostic technique to analyze the severity and progression of fibrogenesis in patients suffering from chronic Hepatitis C infection

Background/Aims: Despite tremendous efforts in disclosing the pathophysiological and epidemiological factors that are associated with liver fibrogenesis, non-invasive diagnostic opportunities to estimate the clinical outcome or progression of liver fibrogenesis are limited [1]. Presently, approximately 0.6% of the population in Germany are infected and more than 170 million people worldwide are estimated to suffer from chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection causing 300.000 deaths annually [2]. Therefore, there is an absolute demand on high-throughput methodologies allowing the reasonable and reliable assessment of the severity and/or progression of hepatic fibrogenesis. MALDI-TOF (matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight) mass spectrometry (MS) is a sensitive method to screen for protein profiles in samples. Following MS analysis spectra obtained are analyzed for sample-class specific but differential expression (pattern profiling). Mathematical models obtained are suitable for classification of further unknown samples.