Liver histology is the gold standard for the diagnosis of NASH; however, it is invasive and there is a risk of sampling errors in some cases. It has been anticipated that it should be possible to use serum biochemical markers to diagnose NASH, and various parameters reflecting oxidative stress, insulin resistance, inflammation, apoptosis, and fibrosis have been proposed to discriminate between SS and NASH. A NASH test that allows prediction on the basis of 13 parameters has been reported in Europe but, in recent years, Gholam et al. designed a more convenient differential

formula based on only two criteria: the AST level and the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus (DM).41 Campos et al. proposed a clinical scoring system for NASH42 in which the scored criteria consist of hypertension (HTN), type 2 DM, AST, ALT, sleep apnea syndrome, and race (exception for blacks). However, these Target Selective Inhibitor Library research buy reports are from Europe and the USA. Recently, it was reported that the serum level of soluble fraction in cytokeratin 18 (soluble CK-18) was able to discriminate between SS and NASH,43 and this has been adopted for our Japanese patients (unpublished data). We reported previously the importance of serum ferritin

and thioredoxin levels, reflecting status of oxidative stress, in the differential diagnosis between SS and NASH.44,45 Recently, Sumida et al. proposed the NAFIC (NASH, Ferritin, Insulin, Collagen) scoring using Japanese patients. This comprises three measurements: serum ferritin, Tanespimycin supplier insulin, and type-4 collagen 7s.46 To determine the utility of this score, we conducted a validation study in collaboration with ten centers all over Japan (Japan Study Group of NAFLD; JSG-NAFLD).46 Various indicators have been proposed for the evaluation of the degree of fibrosis in NASH. From a study based on the analysis of 50 NASH patients including nine with cirrhosis, Fujii et al. reported that the cirrhosis check details determinant score (CDS) and the hepatitis C antiviral long-term treatment against cirrhosis (HALT-C) model were valuable for the differentiation of cirrhosis induced by NASH and HCV infection.47 A French group proposed the BAAT score48 and Fibrotest,49 which assign one

point to each of the following items: BMI, ALT, age, and triglycerides. Angulo et al. proposed the NAFLD fibrosis score which can be calculated from parameters such as age, platelet count, albumin, AST/ALT ratio, fasting hyperglycemia/DM, and BMI.50 The NAFLD fibrosis score is simple and has advantages. However, the major problem is that liver biopsy cannot be avoided in around 25% cases, which are classified as intermediate because of scores halfway between the high cut-off level and the low cut-off level. Harrison et al. proposed the simple and easy BARD score based on BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2, AST/ALT ratio, and DM; and reported that the odds ratio increased 17-fold for cases with scores of two points or higher, associated with F3 or higher stages of fibrosis.51 However, Fujii et al.