Chronic pancreatitis greatly increases the morbidity and mortality of affected patients. No blood-based biomarkers exist for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. In our latest publication titled " Identification and validation of a multivariable prediction model based on blood plasma and serum metabolomics for the distinction of chronic pancreatitis subjects from non-pancreas disease control subjects" we report on a two-step identification and validation study, in which a biomarker signature for chronic pancreatitis was identified by mass spectrometry (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry). In a total of 670 patients and controls from three cohorts, and among 620 identified metabolites, a panel of 8 was found to distinguish chronic pancreatitis with high accuracy from non-pancreatic controls. Interestingly, among those discriminative metabolites ones again, complex lipids and fatty acids were found, a group of metabolites currently under investigation in the context of pancreatic cancer progression as part of SFB1321. Read more in our publication Identification and validation of a multivariable prediction model based on blood plasma and serum metabolomics for the distinction of chronic pancreatitis subjects from non-pancreas disease control subjects.
This is the first study that identifies and independently validates a metabolic biomarker signature for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. The results could provide the basis for the development of the first routine laboratory test for CP.
Photo: Dr. Georg Beyer (Mayerle group, P14)