CHDR develops measurements for fatty liver disease and weight reduction

‘The arrival of the successful glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists has led to a new innovative spirit in the market’, says Dr Naomi Klarenbeek, Research Director Internal Medicine. ‘All kinds of new products are being developed that focus on incretins, and also on other mechanisms. We want to contribute to these innovations.’ Currently, Klarenbeek and her team are working on the development of new biomarkers to map the pharmacological effect of these new drugs in healthy study participants with and without excess weight.

For this validation study, which will be carried out in the course of 2025, CHDR will recruit healthy study participants without obesity, obese study participants with a BMI of more than 30 and additionally a group of obese study participants with reduced insulin sensitivity. Both blood samples and fat biopsies will be taken and thoroughly profiled.  'We will include people with an increased risk of diabetes, because their metabolism may differ from people with a healthy BMI. If we later conduct research for clients, we will have a database of potential study participants at our disposal’, says Klarenbeek.

One of the gravest consequences of obesity and type 2 diabetes is fatty liver disease, particularly the final stage: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). MASH is characterised by a combination of fat deposits in the liver and an inflammatory response and fibrosis, ultimately leading to cirrhosis of the liver in many patients. ‘Several years ago, we worked in the MASH field,’ says Klarenbeek. ’We will now resume that research to map the effect of drugs that may contribute to the reduction of MASH.’ The first drug to treat MASH, resmetirom, has been authorised for the American market in 2024 under the brand name Rezdiffra. ‘Obesity and MASH have a major impact on the health of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. We would like to contribute to potential treatments’, says Klarenbeek.