Hepatology News and Research

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Hepatology is the branch of medicine that incorporates study of liver, gallbladder, biliary tree and pancreas as well as management of their disorders.

Thymosin β4 exhibits potential as new therapeutic agent for liver failure due to chronic HBV infection

REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced today that researchers have correlated Tβ4 levels with the clinical course of patients with hepatitis B virus-related liver failure. It was reported that serum thymosin β4 levels were significantly lower in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and that the magnitude of the reduction of thymosin β4 was closely related to the severity of the hepatic injury and to patient death. Since patients with higher Tβ4 levels survived the disease, changes in Tβ4 values could reflect outcome in some liver failure patients.

9 Feb 2010

Debiopharm Group signs exclusive licence agreement with Novartis for alisporivir

Debiopharm Group, a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, today announced the signature of an exclusive licence agreement with Novartis for the development, manufacture and commercialisation of Debio 025 (alisporivir), a selective, first-in-class cyclophilin (Cyp) inhibitor with a potent anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) effect. The product is currently in phase 2b clinical development for the treatment of hepatitis C. Debiopharm granted Novartis worldwide commercialisation rights to Debio 025 except for Japan.

9 Feb 2010

Study may provide new intervention strategies for esophageal adenocarcinoma

Barrett's epithelium is recognized as a complication of erosive esophagitis and is the pre-malignant condition for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

6 Feb 2010

Study suggests environmental factors play a significant role in the etiology of Crohn's disease

Although inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [comprising mainly Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)] is thought to affect about 150 000 people in the United Kingdom, the prevalence of severe IBD is not known. Mortality following hospitalization for IBD is significant but little has been reported on long-term follow-up.

6 Feb 2010

Endoscopic surveillance could be an appropriate strategy for subepithelial lesions

Although several studies pertaining to the natural history of subepithelial tumors have been published, they have been limited by small sample size and relatively short follow-up. The natural history of subepithelial lesions has not been clearly elucidated, and the appropriate management strategy for small subepithelial tumors is still controversial.

6 Feb 2010

Survey finds majority of patients are interested in video recording of colonoscopy procedure

Colonoscopy is operator-dependent and substantial numbers of pre-cancerous polyps are missed during colonoscopy. Colonoscopies are often poorly documented, with only a few still photographs taken of anatomic landmarks and abnormal findings.

5 Feb 2010

Researchers evaluate ethical and legal issues of volunteers who participate in endoscopy-based studies

The involvement of healthy volunteers (HV) in clinical and preclinical research, especially in the gastroenterology, has grown dramatically over the past few years. However, many issues of ethical, methodological or even legal concerns have not been systematically studied.

5 Feb 2010

Use of laparoscopic hepatectomy in treating HCC patients achieves complete resection

Conventional hepatectomy is an effective way to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is invasive and stressful. Laparoscopic surgery, a kind of minimally invasive surgery, has recently gained considerable advances.

5 Feb 2010

Asuragen enters into research agreements to develop microRNA-based diagnostic test

Asuragen, Inc., a leader in molecular diagnostics and RNA-based pharmacogenomics services, announced today that it has entered into research agreements with The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Dartmouth’s Hitchcock Medical Center and the University of Sherbrooke to develop a microRNA-based diagnostic test to aid the detection of pancreatic cancer from fine-needle aspirate (FNA) biopsies.

1 Feb 2010

Patients with NAFLD have higher overall mortality rate, say researchers

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute determined that patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have a higher overall mortality rate compared with the general population.

28 Jan 2010

TE can be accurately performed in majority of NAFLD patients to exclude advanced fibrosis

Researchers from France and Hong Kong determined that transient elastography (TE), a noninvasive, ultrasonic imaging modality, can be accurately performed in the majority of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to exclude advanced fibrosis. Full findings of this study, funded by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, appear in the February issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

27 Jan 2010

Discovery of new class of compounds may help fight hepatitis C

Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have discovered a novel class of compounds that, in experiments in vitro, inhibit replication of the virus responsible for hepatitis C. If these compounds prove effective in infected humans as well, they may dramatically accelerate efforts to confront this virus’s propensity to rapidly acquire drug resistance, while possibly skirting some of the troubling side effects common among therapies in current use and in late-stage development.

21 Jan 2010

InterMune prices public offering of newly issued common stock

InterMune, Inc. today announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 7,000,000 shares of newly issued common stock at a price to the public of $14.10 per share.

21 Jan 2010

Data may help identify severity of ulcerative colitis in high-risk patients

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disease involving the large intestine which causes inflammation along with local and systemic symptoms. It affects individuals worldwide, with a higher prevalence in Canada. The course of this disease has long been unpredictable, with remission possible in some patients and frequent recurrence in others.

20 Jan 2010

Epidemiologic characteristics of young age GC patients vary by age and gender

Two percent to fifteen percent of patients with gastric cancer (GC) are younger than 45 years of age and there has been an increase in the relative proportion of young age GC compared with older age GC, especially in young females.

20 Jan 2010

Need for further studies on clinical characteristics of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is increasing worldwide and its prognosis is very poor. Thus, further studies on its clinical characteristics for early detection and on surgical treatment for better prognosis are urgently needed.

18 Jan 2010

Research article examining the use of acupuncture to prevent PPOI published

A research article to be published on January 7 , 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. In this prospective randomized clinical trial, the authors examined if acupuncture could prevent prolonged postoperative ileus (PPOI) after intraperitoneal surgery among patients with colon cancer in Shanghai, China.

18 Jan 2010

New insights into molecular interaction between probiotics and altered host intestinal ecosystem in IPAA

Total proctocolectomy with ileal J-pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is the surgical treatment of choice for patients with refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). Although the surgery generally cures UC allowing a significant improvement of health-related quality of life, complications can occur after IPAA.

18 Jan 2010

Hyperphosphatemia following standard OSP doses is related to weight, reveals study

Colon cleansing is used widely for colonoscopic exploration and colonic and gynecological surgery. Oral sodium phosphate (OSP) solution is the osmotic laxative most commonly used for this purpose. It is known that OSP can induce severe hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia due to excessive absorption of phosphates, and there have been reports of deaths and irreversible dialysis-requiring renal insufficiency. However, no prospective studies have investigated the prevalence of hyperphosphatemia in low-risk patients.

18 Jan 2010

Research team reports rare etiology of SMA syndrome

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic disease of the world and the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is over 10% in Taiwan. Gastroparesis is reported in 5% to 12% of diabetic patients.

18 Jan 2010

Hepatology News and Research

Further Reading

Thymosin β4 exhibits potential as new therapeutic agent for liver failure due to chronic HBV infection

Debiopharm Group signs exclusive licence agreement with Novartis for alisporivir

Study may provide new intervention strategies for esophageal adenocarcinoma

Study suggests environmental factors play a significant role in the etiology of Crohn's disease

Endoscopic surveillance could be an appropriate strategy for subepithelial lesions

Survey finds majority of patients are interested in video recording of colonoscopy procedure

Researchers evaluate ethical and legal issues of volunteers who participate in endoscopy-based studies

Use of laparoscopic hepatectomy in treating HCC patients achieves complete resection

Asuragen enters into research agreements to develop microRNA-based diagnostic test

Patients with NAFLD have higher overall mortality rate, say researchers

TE can be accurately performed in majority of NAFLD patients to exclude advanced fibrosis

Discovery of new class of compounds may help fight hepatitis C

InterMune prices public offering of newly issued common stock

Data may help identify severity of ulcerative colitis in high-risk patients

Epidemiologic characteristics of young age GC patients vary by age and gender

Need for further studies on clinical characteristics of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Research article examining the use of acupuncture to prevent PPOI published

New insights into molecular interaction between probiotics and altered host intestinal ecosystem in IPAA

Hyperphosphatemia following standard OSP doses is related to weight, reveals study

Research team reports rare etiology of SMA syndrome

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

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