Keratin 18 News! An update on its use in hepatology research

Posted: February 22, 2019

An update on K18 as a
Liver Injury Biomarker

The Scoop:

Keratin 18 (also known as cytokeratin 18), measured by the M30 Apoptosense® and M65 EpiDeath® ELISA, is used extensively in NASH clinical trials and others for:

• Secondary efficacy endpoint
• Pre-screening tool to reduce screen failures

 

In addition, K18 was explored by multiple groups for further research on use in DILI to:

• Increase early prediction
  Increase tissue specificity

Read more here.

 

K18 is among the most abundant proteins in the liver, but absent in muscle cells and non-epithelial cells. This plus its minimal day-to-day fluctuations in healthy subjects, means increased specificity for researching liver injury events.

 

Beware of imposters!

Not all K18 kits are created equal.

 

• The M30 Antibody is a unique antibody that detects a caspase-cleaved epitope of K18
• Look for the Peviva trademark, on the M30 & M65 kits
• Only available through Diapharma in the U.S. and Canada
• The M30 Apoptosense® kit was optimized to allow for better discrimination between normal and abnormal samples (Bantel H et al 2014).

 

VLV Bio products are for research use only in the U.S. and Canada

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