The Association of Histologic and Noninvasive Tests With Adverse Clinical and Patient-Reported Outcomes in Patients With Advanced Fibrosis Due to Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

BACKGROUND & AIM: Fibrosis is an independent predictor of death in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We assessed the associations between histologic and noninvasive tests (NITs) for fibrosis with clinical and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in advanced NASH. METHODS: Patients with advanced NASH (NASH Clinical Research Network stage F3 or F4) were enrolled in 4 multinational clinical trials of simtuzumab and selonsertib. Liver biopsy samples, NIT results, and PROs (Short Form-36, Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire-NASH, EuroQol-5D, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment) were prospectively collected. RESULTS: A total of 2154 patients with advanced NASH were included: 52.5% with F4 NASH, 40% male, 72% with type 2 diabetes, baseline liver stiffness of 24.1 +/- 14.2 kPa in F4 disease and 14.6 +/- 8.0 kPa in F3 disease, baseline mean Enhanced Liver Fibrosis score of 11.4 + 1.2 in F4 disease and 10.3 +/- 1.0 in F3 disease, and a median follow-up of 16 months. Of those with baseline F3 disease, 16.7% experienced disease progression to cirrhosis, whereas for those with F4 disease, 7.3% experienced clinical events (39% ascites, 24% hepatic encephalopathy); patients who progressed had higher baseline NIT scores (all P < .0001). Adjusted for baseline levels, increases in NIT scores were also associated with increased risk of disease progression in both the F3 and F4 groups (P < .01 for all NITs in F3 and for ELF, NAFLD Fibrosis Score, Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), and liver stiffness in F4). Higher NIT scores were found to be associated with impairment in PROs: ELF, >= 10.43; Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Fibrosis Score, >= 1.80; Fibrotest score, >= 0.54; liver stiffness, >= 23.4 kPa. During treatment, patients with decreases in NIT scores experienced improvement of their PRO scores, whereas those with increase in NIT scores had their PRO scores worsen (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Baseline NIT scores and their changes over time are predictors of adverse clinical and PROs in patients with advanced NASH.