Mason study aims to expedite and lower the cost of treatment for veterans with cirrhosis

Dr. Patrick Gillevet, Professor, Biology; Director, MicroBiome Analysis Center, received $75,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center for research that will validate a microbiome test for identifying hepatic encephalopathy in veterans with cirrhosis. The early differentiation of hepatic encephalopathy from other cognitive disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, will expedite and lower the cost of treatment.
 
The microbiome test is based on the new Oxford Nanopore single molecule sequencing technology and is the basis for a pending patent. In September, Gillevet completed the first phase of this research by conducting a longitudinal analysis of Human Gut Microbiome samples from veterans with cirrhosis to identify diagnostic markers with Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE), cognitive impairment due to cirrhosis, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
 
"It is important to develop a microbiome diagnostic that has a fast turnaround time as current technologies require the collection of large number of samples which can take months,” said Gillevet. “The Nanopore technology will allow us to analyze a few samples in a matter of days so the clinician can use the information in real time."
 
Funding for "BRAVE: Derivation and Validation Cohorts for Richmond Gut Brain axis, Phase 2" began in August 2022 and will end in late September 2023.