Mechanistic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Liver Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Translating mechanistic insights from animal models to human liver disease remains a significant challenge. While animal studies enable time-dependent analyses of liver tissue and plasma, such longitudinal sampling is rarely feasible in clinal settings. As a result, translational researchers must develop innovative approaches to extract mechanistic information using only blood, urine, or other body fluids.

During the course of acute or chronic liver disease, hepatocytes may passively release intracellular contents or actively secrete signaling molecules that can be detected in plasma or serum. In addition to traditional cell death biomarkers such as ALT, AST, or LDH, other molecular indicators—including mitochondrial DNA, caspase-cleaved keratin 18, malondialdehyde, and various cytokines—can reveal mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and different stages of inflammation. By integrating these different biomarkers, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms driving cell death and disease progression in humans.

Importantly, mechanistic biomarkers not only help identify potential therapeutic targets and validate intervention strategies, but they may also offer greater sensitivity than standard clinical endpoints. Some biomarkers have the potential to detect liver injury, fibrosis, or cancer earlier than current measures. Others serve as prognostic tools, helping to predict outcomes such as acute liver failure or the likelihood of requiring a liver transplant.

For this Special Issue, we invite original research articles and expert reviews that demonstrate the development, application, and value of mechanistic and prognostic biomarkers across the spectrum of liver diseases—both acute and chronic, and of various etiologies. This is an important and exciting field of research, and we look forward to receiving your high-quality submissions.

Prof. Dr. Hartmut W. Jaeschke
Dr. Mitchell R. McGill
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Livers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• drug hepatotoxicity
• hepatic ischemia–reperfusion injury
• alcohol-associated liver diseases
• metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)
• ischemic hepatitis
• viral hepatitis
• liver fibrosis
• obstructive cholestasis
• primary sclerosing cholangitis
• liver cancer