Skin markers for fatty liver in kids and young adults
Official title: Cutaneous biomarkers of pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Funded at Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr · NIH-11323027 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether a quick, painless skin sample can help find fatty liver disease in children and young adults with obesity.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cincinnati, United States) |
| Project start | June 17, 2022 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $569,533 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK133198-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11323027 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children and young adults aged about 6–21 with obesity, including those with known NAFLD (some with prior biopsy) and obese controls without NAFLD.
✕Less likely to help
People outside the 6–21 age range, those without obesity, or individuals with liver disease from other known causes may not benefit or be eligible.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be part of a group of 6–21 year olds that includes about 80 young people with fatty liver and 80 obese controls without it. Everyone will get a liver MRI to measure liver fat and a painless tape-strip skin sample that collects surface lipids. Researchers will run detailed lipid analyses on the skin samples and compare them to MRI results and, when available, prior liver biopsies reviewed by an expert pathologist. The team will also check how repeatable and variable the skin measurements are over time.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could lead to a quick, painless skin-based test to screen children for fatty liver and help spot more advanced disease without requiring a biopsy.
How similar studies have gone: MRI-PDFF is already a trusted way to measure liver fat, but using the skin lipidome as a noninvasive marker for pediatric NAFLD is a newer approach with limited prior data.
Where this research is happening
-
Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
Cincinnati, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mouzaki, Marialena — Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Mouzaki, Marialena
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.