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.

New research shows type 2 diabetes as important risk factor for chronic liver disease

People with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of serious liver disease than those without the condition, new research has shown.

13 Apr 2016

Newcastle scientists develop new type of genetic blood test to diagnose liver scarring

Newcastle scientists and medics have developed a new type of genetic blood test that diagnoses scarring in the liver - even before someone may feel ill.

11 Apr 2016

3D MRE offers accurate non-invasive method to detect advanced fibrosis

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, comprises a group of liver disorders whose prevalence is widespread and rising. It's estimated that at least one-third of Americans have NAFLD; among obese persons, the figure is 50 percent.

6 Apr 2016

Researchers find prevalence of steatosis in liver transplant recipients

Researchers have characterized the prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver disease in patients who undergo liver transplantation. The findings, which are published in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, could have important implications for safeguarding transplant recipients' health.

6 Apr 2016

Analysis reveals improved survivorship for acute liver failure patients

More patients hospitalized with acute liver failure - often the result of acetaminophen overdose - are surviving, including those who receive a liver transplant and those who don't, an analysis led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher showed.

5 Apr 2016

Society of Interventional Radiology honors outstanding achievers with annual awards

Renan Uflacker, M.D., FSIR, was honored posthumously on April 3 with the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation Leaders in Innovation Award. The award was announced during the Society of Interventional Radiology's Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.

4 Apr 2016

New Rutgers study links protein that helps fight infection to heart and liver disease

A protein that should help fight infection and keep us healthy may be targeted for treating devastating illnesses like heart and liver disease, according to a new Rutgers study.

31 Mar 2016

Pediatric surgeons who perform very few procedures after graduation may have hard time in the long run

Some pediatric surgeons perform so few rare and complex procedures once they finish their surgical training that they may have a hard time maintaining operative skills in the long run, according to a new study led by researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

31 Mar 2016

SLU scientist describes several tactics that can help cells overcome lesions

In a recent review paper published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, SLU scientist Alessandro Vindigni, Ph.D., describes the strategies cells use when their DNA faces replication stress, challenges that may derail a cell's ability to reproduce.

29 Mar 2016

Inactivation of protein-coding gene promotes liver tissue regeneration in mammals

Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) report that inactivating a certain protein-coding gene promotes liver tissue regeneration in mammals.

26 Mar 2016

European Obesity Day to focus on growing obesity epidemic

The growing obesity epidemic, which is predicted to affect more than half of all European citizens by 2030, will be the focus of European Obesity Day to be held on 21 May.

25 Mar 2016

SLU researchers discover compound that disrupts fibrotic process

Saint Louis University researchers have found that a type of compound that disrupts the process that causes fibrosis (scarring) in the lungs and liver also shows promise in preventing and treating fibrosis in yet another organ, the pancreas. The research was conducted in an animal model.

23 Mar 2016

DAA medication could lead to revolution in hepatitis C treatment

The cost of treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) could be cut up to 50 percent if mathematical models are used to predict when patients can safely stop taking direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medication, according to a new study by researchers at Loyola University Health System and Loyola University Chicago

23 Mar 2016

Mycophenolate mofetil drug seems safe, effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis

New research indicates that mycophenolate mofetil, a drug that is usually used to prevent rejection after kidney, heart or liver transplant, seems safe and effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a serious chronic liver disease that mainly affects women.

22 Mar 2016

MUSC surgeon awarded $3.8 million grant to evaluate transplant drug

Seldom can one say $3.8 million is just the tip of the iceberg, but a newly awarded grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc. is just that. MUSC transplant surgeon Kenneth Chavin, M.D., Ph.D., says the true value of the multi-center drug trial is closer to $26 million, including $22 million in free drugs provided by the pharmaceutical company.

17 Mar 2016

Kanazawa University researchers identify molecular mechanism that links liver disease and obesity

Kanazawa University researchers find similarities in the impeded signalling between central insulin activity and glucose production in the liver for both obese mice and mice that have had the vagus nerve removed.

16 Mar 2016

UCSF study marks important step toward finding cure for Ebola

In experiments carried out partly at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists have determined in atomic detail how a potential drug molecule fits into and blocks a channel in cell membranes that Ebola and related "filoviruses" need to infect victims' cells.

15 Mar 2016

Hematopoietic reprogramming can lead to differentiated blood products for cell-replacement therapy

Building upon previous work, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai identified cells in the embryos of mice that are precursors to blood stem cells or hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

9 Mar 2016

Absence of PEMT enzyme leads to development of fatty liver disease and tumours in thin patients

Researchers observe protection against obesity and insulin resistance but at the cost of prominent fatty liver disease in mice lacking the PEMT enzyme and patients with low levels of PEMT.

7 Mar 2016

Inherited gene after black plague may help treat HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C

The Black Death swept Europe in the 14th century eliminating up to half of the population but it left genetic clues that now may aid a University of Cincinnati researcher in treating HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C using an anti-retroviral drug therapy.