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.

Mayo Clinic article provides better understanding on potentially devastating liver disease

An article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine updates the medical community on a potentially devastating liver disease that afflicts approximately 29,000 Americans.

22 Sep 2016

Bile acid transporter inhibitors can prevent NASH in mice, study shows

Drugs that interfere with bile acid recycling can prevent several aspects of NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) in mice fed a high-fat diet, scientists from Emory University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta have shown.

21 Sep 2016

Scientists generate functional tissue-engineered liver from adult stem and progenitor cells

A research team led by investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles has generated functional human and mouse tissue-engineered liver from adult stem and progenitor cells.

31 Aug 2016

Cell-free DNA test could help identify liver transplant patients with acute rejection

Today, researchers presented findings at the 68th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting that DNA found circulating in the bloodstream—known as cell-free DNA—can be used to identify liver transplant patients with acute rejection with greater accuracy than conventional liver function tests.

1 Aug 2016

Researchers test new approach to treat metabolic diseases without organ transplant

With a shortage of donor organs, Mayo Clinic is exploring therapeutic strategies for patients with debilitating liver diseases. Researchers are testing a new approach to correct metabolic disorders without a whole organ transplant. Their findings appear in Science Translational Medicine.

27 Jul 2016

Study shows how Medicaid expansion affects health insurance coverage of liver transplant recipients

Researchers have found that Medicaid expansion increased Medicaid enrollment among people who received liver transplants funded by commercial insurance. The findings are published inLiver Transplantation.

27 Jul 2016

Diabetes drug metformin could help reduce toxic acid levels linked to MSUD

Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is a rare inherited metabolic disorder involving the dysfunction of an enzyme which breaks down three essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine and valine.

6 Jul 2016

Highly efficient bacterial agent could improve treatment of Wilson disease

In the 'Journal of Clinical Investigation', scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München describe a small peptide that very efficiently binds excess copper from liver cells. This molecule comes from a bacterium's bag of tricks and could be suitable for treating Wilson disease.

21 Jun 2016

Scientists use new technique to repair fibrotic liver cells within the organ

Advances in stem cell research have made it possible to convert patients' skin cells into heart cells, kidney cells, liver cells and more in the lab dish, giving researchers hope that one day such cells could replace organ transplantation for patients with organ failure.

3 Jun 2016

Increasing number of sickest liver transplant candidates delisted from wait list, study finds

The sickest liver transplant candidates should be first in line when a donor liver becomes available, but transplant centers are increasingly removing these individuals from the waiting list, considering them "too sick to transplant," an analysis of nationwide transplant data finds. The study appears online as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication.

29 Apr 2016

Cancer survivors at risk of death after organ transplant

People who had cancer before receiving an organ transplant were more likely to die of any cause, die of cancer or develop a new cancer than organ recipients who did not previously have cancer, a new paper has found. However, the increased risk is less than that reported in some previous studies.

22 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

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

Modified protein appears to reverse liver fibrosis, cirrhosis in rats

A protein modified to increase the amount of time it circulates in the bloodstream appears to reverse liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in rats, according to results of a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

3 Mar 2016

SOM0226 (tolcapone) drug could significantly improve pharmacological treatment of ATTR

Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (IBB-UAB), in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company SOM Biotech, located in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), have published, in Nature Communications, the results of a drug repositioning study in which they describe a powerful drug, SOM0226 (tolcapone) that could significantly improve the pharmacological treatment of familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR).

24 Feb 2016

Johns Hopkins becomes first center in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants

Johns Hopkins recently received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to be the first hospital in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants. The institution will be the first in the nation to do an HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant and the first in the world to execute an HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant.

11 Feb 2016

UC San Diego School of Medicine launches new NAFLD Research Center

Roughly one-quarter of all Americans - an estimated 100 million adults and children - have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic condition that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.

9 Feb 2016