Potential Biomarkers for “Fatty Liver” (Hepatic Steatosis) and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and an explanation of their pathogenesis

Hepatic steatosis or “fatty liver” is a characteristic for disorders ranging from Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFL) to Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) as part of the metabolic syndrome. We hypothesize these liver disorders can due to the hypoxic conditions and its followed pathogenesis been associated with liver cancer or Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Over the past few decades, the screening for and early diagnosis of HCC has attracted attention worldwide, and especially since HCC is not solely a pathogenesis in Asia evolving from hepatitis infection but also now it is hypothesized it can be correlated with the obesity/ type 2 diabetes pandemic related to hepatic steatosis especially in the US and Europe. Because HCC is the fifth most common cancer and the second most common cause of death from cancer worldwide it is an urgent need to find biomarkers for HCC. In the present study using a LCMS Systems Biology lipidomics based approach with a High-Fat diet induced Insulin Resistant casu quo Type 2 diabetes (IR/T2DM) obese C57bl6 mouse model we found several biomarker candidates in the phosphatidylcholine fraction for which a 36:1 PCh could accounted as a clear biomarker for HCC. Other PCs are also potential candidates for novel biomarkers for “fatty liver” in this C57bl6 mouse model such as C32:1 PC, C34:1 PC and C38:2 PC. Our approach highlights new biochemical insights on molecular mechanisms underlying liver cancer disease. This new understanding will promote clinical applications in drug discovery and personalized therapy.