PIONEER: PredIcting sterOid depeNdEnt livEr injuRy With Polyreactive Immunoglobulin G
Project partner:
Prof. Dr. Jakob N. Kather, TU Dresden / Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health
Hannover Unified Biobank, MHH (Prof. Dr. Thomas Illig & Team)
Zentrum für klinische Studien, MHH (Prof. Dr. Christoph Schindler & Team)
Institut für Biometrie, MHH (Prof. Dr. Armin Koch & Team)
Institut für Pathologie, MHH (PD Dr. Björn Hartleben)
PIONEER study group
PIONEER: A New Blood Test for Better Diagnosis of Rare Liver Diseases
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare but serious inflammation of the liver in which the immune system attacks the body's own liver tissue. If left untreated, AIH can lead to acute and chronic liver failure. However, it is well treatable if diagnosed early. The challenge: other non-viral liver diseases, such as fatty liver disease or drug-induced liver injury, can show similar symptoms and lab results. Diagnosis is often difficult and currently requires complex testing, specialized expertise, and usually a liver biopsy.
A research team at Hannover Medical School (MHH) led by Prof. Dr. Richard Taubert and Dr. Bastian Engel has developed a new blood test that detects so-called polyreactive immunoglobulin G antibodies (pIgG). These antibodies are more common in immune-mediated liver damage that requires immunosuppressive therapy than in other liver diseases. Initial studies show that the new test is easier to perform and more accurate than standard diagnostic methods.
The ForTra-funded PIONEER study aims to validate this pIgG test in a multicenter observational study involving 300 children and adults. The goal is to demonstrate that the test can reliably distinguish between liver diseases that require steroid treatment (e.g., AIH) and those that do not. This could reduce the need for invasive biopsies and improve diagnosis even outside of specialized centers. In the future, the test could be integrated into routine blood diagnostics in medical laboratories and significantly enhance care for patients with rare liver diseases.
In addition, the study explores how artificial intelligence can support the automated evaluation of complex antibody patterns and liver tissue samples, making expert-level interpretation more widely accessible beyond specialized centers.
Further information here:
https://www.mhh.de/ghie/forschung-lehre/arbeitsgruppen/ag-taubert
https://www.mhh.de/ghie/forschung-lehre/arbeitsgruppen/ag-engel
