Hepatic Encephalopathy: a New Study Proves the Relevance of White Matter Biomarkers

• “Cerebral diffusion tensor imaging in patients with liver diseases admitted for evaluation of neurological symptoms” is presented today at the EASL congress.
• Those first data pave the way for the interest of white matter monitoring with BrainTale’s biomarker platform in hepatic encephalopathy patients’ management, a common complication of liver diseases.

BrainTale, a medtech deciphering white matter to enable better brain care, spin-off of the Paris Region Greater Hospitals, presented the results of the “Cerebral diffusion tensor imaging in patients with liver diseases admitted for evaluation of neurological symptoms” study led by Professor Nicolas Weiss, (Sorbonne University, Paris, France) during the European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL) congress in Milan (Italy) from June 05 to 08, 2024. The presented scientific communication paves the way for the interest of white matter monitoring with BrainTale’s biomarker platform in hepatic encephalopathy patients’ management, a complication of liver diseases.

Long underestimated in neuroscience, white matter, which represents 60% to 80% of the human brain, plays a key role in its proper functioning, development, and aging, whether normal or pathological. Accordingly, since its creation in 2018, BrainTale has been developing non-invasive, accessible, actionable in multicentric frameworks, and clinically validated measurement and predictive tools for patients suffering from brain diseases. With a strong collaborative approach, the company’s ambition is to provide investigators with relevant measure of the brain to improve patient care and clinical development of new disease-modifying drugs.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a frequent complication of liver diseases, characterized by deterioration in cerebral function. In 30-45% of the cases, the disease is symptomatic with clinical signs, yet recent animal data have suggested that several episodes of OHE (overt hepatic encephalopathy) may be associated with cerebral white matter lesions. With BrainTale solution, such lesions can now be identified, quantified, differentiated (axonal vs. myelin) and followed over time hence offering efficient non-invasive and objective diagnosis. It represents a possible breakthrough for patients’ management.

The scientific communication “Cerebral diffusion tensor imaging in patients with liver diseases admitted for evaluation of neurological symptoms” highlighted the study carried out on chronic liver diseases patients with neurocognitive symptoms and was presented on June 7^th during the session “Cirrhosis and its complications: Other clinical complications except ACLF and critical illness” at 8:30 am by Nicolas Weiss.

Of the 164 included patients, 118 (94 with cirrhosis and 24 with liver vascular disease) presented with a brain abnormality and underwent DTI sequence acquisition analyzed using BrainTale’s solution. It provided global fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Results showed that FA and MD are significantly impaired in liver diseases patients with neurological symptoms. Cirrhotic patients had lower FA and higher MD values (p<0.05), and both markers correlated with neuropsychological tests. In the long term, a decrease in FA and an increase in MD were positively correlated with the number of OHE episodes.

These preliminary data highlight the relevance of white matter biomarkers available with BrainTale’s technology and demonstrate the company’s collaborative approach to improve patient care.

« Presented data enable the opening of a new perspective in OHE patient care with non invasive, multicentric and reliable approach to brain alterations monitoring” comments Professor Nicolas Weiss. “The objective assessment provided by white matter understanding with Braintale complements the neuropsychological testing, reducing heterogenicity and optimizing ultimately patient care. It could lead to a better understanding of hepatic encephalopathy” he adds.

About BrainTale

BrainTale is an innovative European medtech company measuring the brain through white matter quantification and standardization based on a commercially available software medical device solution. This regulatory-cleared AI software offers quality controlled, non-invasive, reliable and clinically validated reports after diffusion tensor MRI data processing. BrainTale enables drug developers, leading academic researchers and physicians to improve patient care by understanding neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions, assess brain lesions evolutions and take appropriate decisions in the clinic and during drug development. BrainTale empowers the scientific and medical community with objective measure to transform brain care.

Because brain diseases have become the medical issue of our time, we can no longer wait. At BrainTale, we strongly believe that by exploring better, we can treat faster, together.

For more information, please visit www.braintale.eu

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