Liver Transplant News and Research

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When a patient presents with end stage liver disease or liver failure he or she may be considered for a liver transplantation. The first step in this is often a rigorous assessment and being placed on a waiting list.

Children receiving living donor liver transplant less likely to experience organ rejection

In the United States alone, 500 children will need a liver transplant this year. While liver tissue can come from living or deceased donors, no studies have demonstrated which of these methods leads to better outcomes for children. In a new publication, researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles pooled published results from over 8,000 pediatric patients across four continents. The data reveal that children who receive living donor liver tissue for transplants are far less likely to experience serious complications like organ rejection.

22 Sep 2021

New online tool to predict mortality risk for patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure

For patients with chronic liver disease, the onset of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) instantly alters the transplant question from 'if' to 'when'. 60 to 70% of patients with ACLF die within 3 months due to poor liver function and multiple organ failure.

13 Sep 2021

Study pinpoints an entirely new approach for treatment of biliary atresia

Biliary atresia is the largest cause of end-stage liver fibrosis in children and the main reason children need liver transplants. Despite many years of worldwide research, scientists have not yet found a way to prevent the condition.

7 Sep 2021

Research: Only 26% of areas in the UK have an effective pathway in place for early liver disease detection

New research published today in a peer review journal shows only 26% of areas in the UK have an effective pathway in place for the early detection of liver disease.

4 Aug 2021

Scientists discover drug candidates for treating liver fibrosis among pesticides

Skoltech biologists and their colleagues from Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russia, and the Chemistry Department of Taras Shevchenko University in Ukraine have discovered fairly unlikely drug candidates for treating liver fibrosis and other pathologies -- among pest control chemicals.

8 Jul 2021

COVID-19 vaccination induces highly variable immunity among the immunocompromised

Researchers in the United States have conducted a study showing that the humoral (antibody) immunity induced by vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – varies significantly among immunocompromised individuals.

4 Jul 2021

Study finds higher mortality and lower transplant rates among Black patients with cirrhosis

Black patients with cirrhosis - late-stage liver disease - are about 25% more likely to die compared to non-Hispanic white patients and four times less likely to receive a liver transplant, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

23 Jun 2021

Blocking IL-11 signaling can promote liver regeneration after paracetamol-induced damage

Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School and National Heart Centre Singapore, in collaboration with colleagues in Singapore and the UK, have shown that the human form of the signaling protein interleukin 11 (IL-11) has a damaging effect on human liver cells--overturning a prior hypothesis that it could help livers damaged by paracetamol poisoning.

18 Jun 2021

Experts call for more programs to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with liver cancer

Rising numbers of liver cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has led experts at Flinders University to call for more programs, including mobile liver clinics and ultrasound in rural and remote Australia.

15 Jun 2021

British Liver Trust calls for action to address rising obesity rates that fuel liver disease crisis

The British Liver Trust is calling for greater awareness of a silent yet serious form of fatty liver disease, non-alcohol related steatohepatitis (NASH), as one million adults were reported to have been admitted to hospital with obesity-related conditions in 2020.

14 Jun 2021

Mice study shows that Western diet can lead to NASH, liver fibrosis

Apart from lifestyle interventions, there are currently no approved treatments for NASH. A liver transplant is sometimes the only remedy.

2 Jun 2021

Mouse model closely replicates human NAFLD

Human non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a little-understood condition that significantly increases the risk of inflammation, fibrosis and liver cancer and ultimately requires liver transplant.

13 Apr 2021

Expanding risk assessment parameters improves prediction of waitlist mortality for liver transplants

The top priority in the field of transplantation is to ensure that donor organs are allocated to the patients with the greatest need.

13 Apr 2021

Unique approach to heart-liver transplant offers new hope for highly sensitized patients

All too often, patients with high levels of antibodies face major challenges getting a transplant. These highly sensitized patients have a much higher risk of death while waiting for suitable organs they are less likely to reject.

1 Apr 2021

Research consortium identifies cell stress mechanisms for chronic inflammatory liver disease

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare, chronic, inflammatory disease of the bile ducts and is difficult to treat, since its causes have not yet been adequately researched.

30 Mar 2021

Alcohol and tobacco sales nationwide rose in the early months of COVID-19

COVID-19 has taken a huge medical, emotional and economic toll on Americans. Now, new Keck Medicine of USC research shows that the pandemic may also have harmful indirect consequences.

1 Mar 2021

Ionic liquid formulation kills cancer cells, allows uniform distribution of chemotherapy to tumors

A Mayo Clinic team, led by Rahmi Oklu, M.D., Ph.D., a vascular and interventional radiologist at Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with Samir Mitragotri, Ph.D., of Harvard University, report the development of a new ionic liquid formulation that killed cancer cells and allowed uniform distribution of a chemotherapy drug into liver tumors and other solid tumors in the lab.

11 Feb 2021

Patients fend for themselves to access highly touted covid antibody treatments

By the time he tested positive for covid-19 on Jan. 12, Gary Herritz was feeling pretty sick. He suspects he was infected a week earlier, during a medical appointment in which he saw health workers who were wearing masks beneath their noses or who had removed them entirely.

20 Jan 2021

Researchers design armored immune cells to attack recurring cancer in liver transplant patients

Duke-NUS Medical School researchers, together with collaborators in Singapore, have designed armored immune cells that can attack recurring cancer in liver transplant patients, while temporarily evading immunosuppressant drugs patients take to avoid organ rejection.

19 Jan 2021

Study highlights racial disparities in liver transplantation listing

A new study of liver transplant centers confirms that non-Hispanic white patients get placed on liver transplant waitlists at disproportionately higher rates than non-Hispanic Black patients.

11 Jan 2021