Liver Disease News and Research

RSS

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.

Gut bacterial molecule discovered to drive serious bile duct disease

Researchers at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital have, together with international collaborators, discovered that a small molecule made exclusively by gut bacteria can actively drive disease in the bile ducts and worsen primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a serious liver and bile duct disease.

4 Sep 2026

Childhood obesity prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs surge in the U.S.

Although the number of US children under age 12 with obesity being prescribed the weight loss drugs Saxenda, Wegovy, and Zepbound remains low, the number is 310 times higher in June 2026 than it was in 2019, when the drugs were initially prescribed, a new study shows.

4 Sep 2026

Semaglutide extended lifespan in older female mice, but that was not the only finding

Late-life semaglutide treatment slowed age-related physiological decline, attenuated multiple molecular hallmarks of aging, and extended median lifespan from 742 to 834 days in aged female mice. The drug reproduced many effects of calorie restriction while providing additional benefits in exploratory behavior, spatial memory, and glucose control, suggesting that some effects extend beyond reduced calorie intake alone.

3 Sep 2026

Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs

A Journal of Clinical Investigation Viewpoint highlights growing evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists, particularly semaglutide, may reduce alcohol consumption and some other substance-related outcomes by acting on brain systems involved in reward, motivation, stress, and emotion. However, the authors caution that efficacy for substance use disorders is not yet firmly established and call for further research into optimal dosing, treatment duration, patient selection, mechanisms, and effects across different addictions.

2 Sep 2026

Alcohol-related liver cancer deaths were falling. Then the trend reversed during the COVID-19 pandemic

A global analysis of GBD 2023 data found that alcohol-attributable liver cancer mortality increased modestly from 1990 to 2023, while mortality from alcohol-attributable cirrhosis, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and alcohol use disorders declined. Liver cancer mortality shifted from a pre-pandemic decline to an increase during 2020–2023, particularly among women, although the researchers cautioned that the ecological analysis cannot establish that pandemic-related changes caused the reversal.

1 Sep 2026

Blocking a key protein protects against metabolic liver damage

Obesity-related metabolic liver disease affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, but only some fraction of those livers develop scarring, become inflamed, and eventually fail. University of Utah researchers have identified a protein, EFHD1, that appears to drive that transition by triggering an out-of-place antiviral immune response.

1 Sep 2026

PCORI funding awarded to study symptom management for rare cholestatic liver diseases

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced a $13 million funding award to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill over five years to study innovative symptom management interventions for patients with rare cholestatic liver diseases.

1 Sep 2026

The scale told a similar story across three diets. The liver told a different one

In a randomized controlled trial of people with metabolically unhealthy obesity, approximately 10% weight loss improved insulin sensitivity and several cardiometabolic measures across ketogenic, Mediterranean, and very-low-fat plant-forward diets. However, the very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet produced larger improvements in hepatic insulin sensitivity and greater reductions in liver fat and several glucose and insulin measures than the higher-carbohydrate diets.

31 Aug 2026

Study shows how cancer can act as a systemic disease

In their quest to understand how cancers take root, grow and spread, scientists have for the past half-century explored the genetic aberrations and microenvironmental peculiarities of tumors and their constituent cells.

28 Aug 2026

Ketogenic diet excels at reversing prediabetes and fatty liver

There is no shortage of popular diets to try, and they can generally produce weight loss if followed to the letter. But are all diet plans created equal in terms of reducing the cardiometabolic risks that come with obesity, such as Type 2 diabetes and liver disease?

27 Aug 2026

Ketogenic diet provides greatest health benefits for treating obesity

A diet that severely limits carbohydrates but is high in fat has the greatest health benefits for people with obesity compared to a Mediterranean diet or a low-fat diet, according to a clinical trial publishing August 27 in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism.

27 Aug 2026

UofL receives new federal funding to advance metabolic health research

Chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and metabolic liver disease have sharply increased in recent decades and are among the most urgent health challenges facing our society.

27 Aug 2026

Phytoene in tomatoes may help protect against fatty liver disease

New study suggests a lesser-known compound in tomatoes may help protect against fatty liver disease, which affects more than 1 in 3 American adults.

26 Aug 2026

NIH grants support research on whether PFAS exposure increases risk of liver and endometrial cancers

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $7.5 million to study whether exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the synthetic compounds known as "forever chemicals," increases the risk of liver cancer and endometrial cancer.

25 Aug 2026

UC Berkeley researchers find new potential treatment for obesity and diabetes

Over the past five years, medications called GLP-1s have revolutionized the treatment of metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes and fatty liver diseases.

21 Aug 2026

Review outlines how SIRT3 protein regulates global metabolic disorders

A comprehensive review published in Engineering systematically outlines the regulatory capacity of silent information regulator 3 (SIRT3), a mitochondrial deacetylase termed the "head goose molecule", and its negentropic mechanism for intervening global metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and steatotic liver disease.

21 Aug 2026

Semaglutide trial targets people with liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction

A new study -- co-led by the University of Plymouth, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Nottingham -- is being launched into a treatment for people impacted by liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction.

19 Aug 2026

UToledo researchers find new way to spot earliest warning signs of liver disease

Liver disease often progresses silently until it has become a serious condition. Researchers at The University of Toledo may have found a way to identify one of its earliest warning signs before symptoms appear.

18 Aug 2026

Natural hormone activates brain-to-liver signaling pathway to suppress liver inflammation

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered that a naturally occurring hormone best known for suppressing appetite and promoting weight loss also helps protect the liver from inflammation through a previously unknown signalling pathway, opening new possibilities for treating advanced fatty liver disease.

10 Aug 2026

Tirzepatide lowers heart attack and cardiovascular event risk in adults with type 2 diabetes

In a US cohort of 52,971 adults with type 2 diabetes and established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, tirzepatide initiation was associated with a lower one-year risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than sitagliptin. The benefit was driven mainly by lower myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality hazards, although the authors cautioned that mortality findings may be influenced by residual confounding.

10 Aug 2026

Liver Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Gut bacterial molecule discovered to drive serious bile duct disease

Childhood obesity prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs surge in the U.S.

Semaglutide extended lifespan in older female mice, but that was not the only finding

Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs

Alcohol-related liver cancer deaths were falling. Then the trend reversed during the COVID-19 pandemic

Blocking a key protein protects against metabolic liver damage

PCORI funding awarded to study symptom management for rare cholestatic liver diseases

The scale told a similar story across three diets. The liver told a different one

Study shows how cancer can act as a systemic disease

Ketogenic diet excels at reversing prediabetes and fatty liver

Ketogenic diet provides greatest health benefits for treating obesity

UofL receives new federal funding to advance metabolic health research

Phytoene in tomatoes may help protect against fatty liver disease

NIH grants support research on whether PFAS exposure increases risk of liver and endometrial cancers

UC Berkeley researchers find new potential treatment for obesity and diabetes

Review outlines how SIRT3 protein regulates global metabolic disorders

Semaglutide trial targets people with liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction

UToledo researchers find new way to spot earliest warning signs of liver disease

Natural hormone activates brain-to-liver signaling pathway to suppress liver inflammation

Tirzepatide lowers heart attack and cardiovascular event risk in adults with type 2 diabetes

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Latest News