Detection and monitoring of liver damage

1. A method of assessing the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a subject, the method comprising:

obtaining a bodily sample from the subject, wherein the bodily sample is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, and serum;

measuring the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample;

correlating the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments with the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject;

identifying the subject as having more severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value; and

administering to the subject having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease a therapeutic agent based on the identified severity of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

2. The method of claim 1 , the caspase generated cytokeratin fragments being measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

3. The method of claim 2 , the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measuring the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in units per liter (U/L), wherein the higher the U/L of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample the more severe the liver disease in the subject.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) than steatosis.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has mild to moderate to severe fibrosis in the subject than mild fibrosis.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a level of caspase-3 generated cytokeratin-18 fragments are measured in the bodily sample and the level of caspase-3 generated cytokeratin-18 fragments are correlated with the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject, wherein the higher the measured level of caspase-3 generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more severe the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 are measured in the bodily sample and the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 are correlated with the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject, wherein the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more severe the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject.

8. A method of assessing the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a subject, the method comprising:

obtaining a bodily sample from the subject, wherein the bodily sample is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, and serum;

measuring the level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample;

correlating the level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 with the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject;

identifying the subject as having more severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease the higher the measured level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value; and

administering to the subject having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease a therapeutic agent based on the identified severity of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

9. The method of claim 8 , the cytokeratin-18 fragments being measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

10. The method of claim 9 , the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measuring the level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in units per liter (U/L), wherein the higher the U/L of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample the more severe the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the higher the measured level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) than steatosis.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the higher the measured level of cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has moderate to severe fibrosis than mild fibrosis.

13. A method of assessing the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a subject, the method comprising:

obtaining a bodily sample from the subject, wherein the bodily sample is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, and serum;

measuring the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample;

correlating the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 with the degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject;

identifying the subject as having more severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value; and

administering to the subject having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease a therapeutic agent based on the identified severity of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

14. The method of claim 13 , the caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments being measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

15. The method of claim 14 , the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measuring the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in units per liter (U/L), wherein the higher the U/L of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample the more severe the liver damage in the subject.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) than steatosis.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the higher the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments which are cleaved at aspartic acid residue 396 in the bodily sample compared to a predetermined value, the more likely the subject has moderate to severe fibrosis than mild fibrosis.

18. A method of treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a subject, the method comprising:

identifying the subject as having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, wherein non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is identified by obtaining a bodily sample selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, and serum from the subject, measuring the level of caspase generated cyokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample, correlating the level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the subject, wherein a subject has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease if the measured level of caspase generated cytokeratin-18 fragments in the bodily sample is higher than a predetermined value; and

administering to the subject identified as having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease a therapeutic agent in an amount effective to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.