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.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital commences live donor liver transplant program

The Division of Transplantation in the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) has started a live donor liver transplant program. Live donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is a procedure in which a living person donates a portion of his or her liver to another person. Combined, the two operations typically take about 12 hours. Since the program began in summer 2010, three patients and their donors have successfully undergone the procedure.

4 Oct 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb to present multiple compounds’ data at AASLD annual meeting

New data on multiple Bristol-Myers Squibb Company compounds will be presented at the 61st annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston from October 29 to November 2.

3 Oct 2010

Candidates who have strong religious connection have better post-transplant survival

Italian researchers report that liver transplant candidates who have a strong religious connection have better post-transplant survival. This study also finds that religiosity—regardless of cause of death—prolongs the life span of individuals who underwent liver transplantation.

1 Oct 2010

AASLD, TFAH report calls for action to help identify Americans living with HBV, HCV

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the Trust for America's Health issued a new report today calling for action to be taken to transform how the country deals with viral hepatitis – to help identify millions of Americans who know they are living with chronic forms of hepatitis B and C and to assure access to treatment for all who need it, to prevent even more Americans from becoming infected.

28 Sep 2010

Study finds increasing number of elderly people are prone to celiac diseases

Working to solve the puzzle of when people develop celiac disease has led researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Celiac Research to some surprising findings. They have found that the autoimmune disorder is on the rise with evidence of increasing cases in the elderly.

27 Sep 2010

FDA approves Beyaz tablets to increase folate level in women

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Beyaz tablets, an estrogen/progestin combined oral contraceptive that also contains a folate (levomefolate calcium 0.451 mg).

27 Sep 2010

First intestine transplant in Michigan performed on 50-year-old Port Austin patient

The first intestine (bowel) transplant in Michigan was performed on a 50-year-old patient from Port Austin by physicians at Henry Ford Hospital.

23 Sep 2010

Hyponatremia may lead to neurological complications

A new study published in the October issue of the journal Hepatology found that patients with severe portal-hypertensive bleeding who are treated with terlipressin may experience an acute reduction of sodium in their blood. This reduction in serum sodium, known as hyponatremia, can cause adverse reactions such as neurological complications, and is rapidly reversible upon terlipressin withdrawal.

23 Sep 2010

Scientists create human liver cells using stem cells

Emerging Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Cindy Morrissey said Tuesday that a recent study at the University of Cambridge seems to indicate that realistic stem cell therapies to replace diseased or damaged tissues may be closer than ever.

23 Sep 2010

Talecris Biotherapeutics announces 2010 eALTA award recipients

Talecris Biotherapeutics GmbH announced yesterday the recipients of the 2010 European alpha1-antitrypsin Laurell's Training Awards (eALTA). The annual awards, sponsored by Talecris, provide two fellowships of 50,000 euros to young investigators whose research aims to enhance the understanding and treatment of alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AAT deficiency).

21 Sep 2010

Adenovirus exposure may cause obesity in children: Study

The emerging idea that obesity may have an infectious origin gets new support in a cross-sectional study by University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers who found that children exposed to a particular strain of adenovirus were significantly more likely to be obese.

20 Sep 2010

Blood test developed for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosis

Scientists at the Basque Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) and OWL Genomics Ltd. (Bilbao, Spain), in collaboration with researchers at the INSERM and University Hospitals (APHP Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Pierre & Marie Curie University Paris and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Nice, University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France), Vanderbilt University (Nashville, US), the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, US), Clinic Hospital and IDIBAPS (Barcelona, Spain) and the Alcalá de Henares University (Alcalá de Henares, Spain) have used metabolomics technology to develop a blood test for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) diagnosis.

19 Sep 2010

FDA grants AGTC $1M for Phase II human clinical trial in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1 million from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA Orphan Drugs Program) to fund a Phase II Human Clinical Trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment for Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AAT), a genetic disease known to result in serious lung and/or liver disease.

17 Sep 2010

Abstract on ACH-1625 accepted as late breaking poster presentation at The Liver Meeting 2010

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of treatments for the most challenging infectious diseases, today announced that its abstract titled "ACH-1625 Demonstrates Sustained Viral Suppression in Presence of Uncommon Drug Resistant HCV Variants: Pharmacokinetic, Pharmacodynamic and Clinical Virology Analysis of Phase I Study" has been accepted as a late breaking poster presentation at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease The Liver Meeting 2010 being held October 29-November 2, 2010 in Boston.

15 Sep 2010

AAPCHO launches campaign to raise chronic hepatitis B awareness

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) today launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the epidemic of chronic hepatitis B among Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage.

15 Sep 2010

Phase 3 REALIZE study shows milestone in treatment development for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that 65% of people overall achieved a sustained viral response (SVR or viral cure) with a telaprevir-based regimen in the pivotal Phase 3 REALIZE study, as compared to 17% of people in the control arm who received pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone.

8 Sep 2010

Three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying current obesity epidemic

In a first person paper published in the August 27, 2010 issue of Childhood Obesity, Dr. Melinda Sothern, Director of Health Promotion and Professor of Public Health at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, provides three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying the current obesity epidemic in the United States and protect future generations from its health consequences.

3 Sep 2010

Beaumont Hospital expands new multi-organ transplant program

Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak became Michigan's third liver transplant center on Aug. 31. A 59-year-old man from Royal Oak was the first patient to receive a liver transplant through Beaumont's new multi-organ transplant program.

2 Sep 2010

Abbott RealTime HBV assay receives marketing approval from FDA

Abbott announced today it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market the Abbott RealTime HBV assay for measuring viral load or the amount of hepatitis B virus in a patient's blood. It is the first and only approved test capable of automating HBV viral load testing from sample extraction to final results.

2 Sep 2010

FDA denies accelerated approval of Genentech's trastuzumab-DM1 (T-DM1) BLA for metastatic breast cancer

In its review of the BLA, the FDA stated the T-DM1 trials did not meet the standard for accelerated approval because all available treatment choices approved for metastatic breast cancer, regardless of HER2 status, had not been exhausted in the study population.

27 Aug 2010

Liver Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital commences live donor liver transplant program

Bristol-Myers Squibb to present multiple compounds’ data at AASLD annual meeting

Candidates who have strong religious connection have better post-transplant survival

AASLD, TFAH report calls for action to help identify Americans living with HBV, HCV

Study finds increasing number of elderly people are prone to celiac diseases

FDA approves Beyaz tablets to increase folate level in women

First intestine transplant in Michigan performed on 50-year-old Port Austin patient

Hyponatremia may lead to neurological complications

Scientists create human liver cells using stem cells

Talecris Biotherapeutics announces 2010 eALTA award recipients

Adenovirus exposure may cause obesity in children: Study

Blood test developed for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosis

FDA grants AGTC $1M for Phase II human clinical trial in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Abstract on ACH-1625 accepted as late breaking poster presentation at The Liver Meeting 2010

AAPCHO launches campaign to raise chronic hepatitis B awareness

Phase 3 REALIZE study shows milestone in treatment development for hepatitis C

Three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying current obesity epidemic

Beaumont Hospital expands new multi-organ transplant program

Abbott RealTime HBV assay receives marketing approval from FDA

FDA denies accelerated approval of Genentech's trastuzumab-DM1 (T-DM1) BLA for metastatic breast cancer

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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