Image analysis software developer Perspectum Diagnostics is touting the results of a study in which the company's LiverMultiScan multiparametric MRI software was used to investigate the effects of iron accumulation in the liver.
Researchers from Perspectum, the University of Westminster, University College London, and Lund University in Sweden collaborated to use LiverMultiScan to noninvasively quantify liver iron content in more than 8,000 participants who had also provided DNA samples to the U.K. Biobank.
The results identified three genes that were at increased risk of developing higher liver iron content, which can lead to a disease known as Celtic Curse. The condition is very common in the Irish population, with as many as one in eight people afflicted with this disease. Previous research using LiverMultiScan has shown that the prevalence of iron overload in the U.K. is 4.8%.
Most importantly, the findings indicate that the causes of elevated liver iron are systemic rather than liver-specific, with the same genes associated with diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
The researchers suggested that this association might lead to new strategies to manage these conditions. This study also provides support for multiparametric MRI as a noninvasive, radiation-free technique for quantifying liver iron content.
"Excess iron is a silent -- and often deadly -- cause of liver disease," said Neil McClements, chief executive at Haemochromatosis UK, in a statement. "This study underlines the value to patients of rapidly identifying elevated liver iron through noninvasive MRI screening. Faster diagnosis is a significant benefit to people affected by genetic haemochromatosis, the U.K.'s most prevalent underdiagnosed genetic condition."
