Liver Disease News and Research

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The liver is one of the largest solid organs of the body. It is located in the upper right part of the abdomen. Most of the organ lies under cover of the rib cage.

Russian Ministry of Health approves Medivir's simeprevir for chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection

Medivir AB announced today that the Russian Ministry of Health has approved Sovriad (simeprevir) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, in adults with compensated liver disease (including cirrhosis) who are treatment naïve or who have failed previous interferon therapy (pegylated or non-pegylated) with or without ribavirin. Russia will be the first country within EMEA to gain access to simeprevir, which represents a significant advance in hepatitis C treatment.

24 Mar 2014

NIH awards $28M grant to establish new center for excellence to find treatment for Ebola virus

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $28 million grant to establish a new center for excellence to find an antibody "cocktail" to fight two types of viruses that cause severe hemorrhagic fever, including the deadly Ebola virus. The project involves researchers from 15 institutions, including Kartik Chandran, Ph.D., and Jonathan Lai, Ph.D., at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Einstein will receive approximately $4 million of the total grant.

21 Mar 2014

Medivir announces phase III ATTAIN study of simeprevir inhibitor in treatment of adult patients with HCV

Medivir AB today announced that new phase III data for the once-daily protease inhibitor simeprevir have been presented at the Conference of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) in Brisbane, Australia.

19 Mar 2014

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): an interview with Jean-François Mouney, CEO of Genfit

The progressive form of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), which defines a subgroup of NAFLD where liver steatosis co-exists with cell injury (hepatocyte ballooning) and inflammation with or without fibrosis at histological examination.

18 Mar 2014

Patients with both HIV and hepatitis C have 80% higher rates of serious liver disease

A new study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that the risk of hepatitis C-associated serious liver disease persists in HIV patients otherwise benefitting from antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV.

18 Mar 2014

Scientists discover gene variation that makes humans have healthier blood lipid levels, reduced risk of heart attacks

Scientists have discovered a previously unrecognized gene variation that makes humans have healthier blood lipid levels and reduced risk of heart attacks -- a finding that opens the door to using this knowledge in testing or treatment of high cholesterol and other lipid disorders.

17 Mar 2014

Merck's NOXAFIL injection gets FDA approval for intravenous use

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved NOXAFIL (posaconazole) injection (18 mg/ mL), a new formulation of NOXAFIL for intravenous (IV) use.

16 Mar 2014

Patient with autistic behavior experiences improvements in mental health after liver transplant

A patient with a rare metabolic disease that causes liver failure and autistic behavior experienced significant improvements in both her physical and mental health after receiving a liver transplant, according to a new case report published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

12 Mar 2014

Experimental drugs offer hope for people with hepatitis C

Patrizia Cazzaniga had heard the horror stories about early treatments for hepatitis C - multiple daily pills and weekly shots for up to a year, side effects that could be debilitating, and a cure rate of only about 40 percent.

11 Mar 2014

Boehringer Ingelheim reports results from SVR12 Phase 3 trial in patients with HCV/HIV co-infection

Today Boehringer Ingelheim announced results from STARTVerso4 in patients with HCV/HIV co-infection. Hepatitis C viral cure 12 weeks after the conclusion of treatment (SVR12) was achieved by 72% of all patients in the trial. Patients were enrolled in either 120mg or 240mg faldaprevir dose groups.

6 Mar 2014

New study uses Lumosity games to detect subtle cognitive impairments in patients with cirrhosis

A new study from the University of Washington has found that performance on Lumosity games can distinguish between patients with cirrhosis of the liver, pre-cirrhotic patients, and healthy controls. The study used Lumosity games as psychometric tests to detect subtle cognitive impairments in patients with cirrhosis. The study is published in the March issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

6 Mar 2014

Metabolic profiling of liver cells suggests new treatments for cirrhosis patients

In a new study that could help doctors extend the lives of patients awaiting liver transplants, a Rice University-led team of researchers examined the metabolic breakdown that takes place in liver cells during late-stage cirrhosis and found clues that suggest new treatments to delay liver failure.

5 Mar 2014

Medical student receives award for finding out drugs to treat peripheral vascular disease

Working at a Saint Louis University laboratory, second-year medical student Weston Gordon performed several studies investigating two novel drug therapies that may be useful in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

4 Mar 2014

Study shows fructose consumption does not contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in developed countries, affecting up to 30 per cent of their populations.

27 Feb 2014

Researchers find link between acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer

In a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Saint Louis University researchers have found a link between acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and pancreatic cancer, a finding which may eventually lead to some pancreatic cancers being detected earlier.

27 Feb 2014

Research grows "mini-livers" to reduce use of animals in science

Research that has for the first time successfully grown "mini-livers" from adult mouse stem cells has won the UK's international prize for the scientific and technological advance with the most potential to replace, reduce or refine the use of animals in science (the 3Rs).

26 Feb 2014

Cystinosis Research Foundation granted $2.15M in 2013 to researchers investigating cure for cystinosis

The Cystinosis Research Foundation awarded $2,153,048 in 2013 to researchers investigating better treatments and a cure for cystinosis, a rare metabolic and genetic disease that afflicts about 500 children and young adults in the United States and 2,000 worldwide.

19 Feb 2014

UT Southwestern receives grant to establish Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

UT Southwestern Medical Center has been funded to establish a Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research that supports and conducts high-quality research comparing the outcomes and effectiveness of different strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions to improve patient care.

18 Feb 2014

Health effects of childhood obesity may be long-lasting and profound

Childhood obesity rates have nearly tripled in the previous 30 years and researchers are asking the important question of how this epidemic will impact the future health of these obese children and public health in general. A University of Colorado Cancer Center article recently published in the journal Gerontology shows that even in cases in which obese children later lose weight, the health effects of childhood obesity may be long-lasting and profound.

14 Feb 2014

Researcher seeks best way to obtain parental consent for research regarding newborn resuscitation

For years, obtaining parental consent for clinical research regarding newborn resuscitation in the delivery room has been a challenge. Now, a Saint Louis University pediatric researcher is asking new mothers and pregnant women when doctors should seek parental permission to allow medical research related to delivery room treatments.