Liver News and Research

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Pseudogenes may play role in cancer development, shows study

Pseudogenes, a sub-class of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that developed from the genome's 20,000 protein-coding genes but lost the ability to produce proteins, have long been considered nothing more than genomic "junk." Yet the retention of these 20,000 mysterious remnants during evolution has suggested that they may in fact possess biological functions and contribute to the development of disease.

3 Apr 2015

Study calls for more intensive psychotherapeutic support for patients with alcohol addiction

The mortality of alcohol dependent patients in general hospitals is many times higher than that of patients without alcohol dependency.

3 Apr 2015

Study: 'Open' stem cell chromosomes hold great promise for treating liver, pancreas diseases

Stem cells hold great promise for treating a number of diseases, in part because they have the unique ability to differentiate, specializing into any one of the hundreds of cell types that comprise the human body.

2 Apr 2015

Scientists develop computer model to predict how liver stores fat

As part of an effort to understand how an experimental drug for atherosclerosis causes the build-up of fat in the liver, scientists have developed a computer model that can predict how the rate at which liver stores fat in response to various situations. Being able to model liver fat storage gives researchers a way to predict the side effects of drugs and environmental factors at much earlier stages in the research and drug development process, possibly reducing the number of experiments involving animal models.

2 Apr 2015

FGF21 protein can boost regenerative effects of human PPARα

Researchers at UC Davis have illuminated an important distinction between mice and humans: how human livers heal. The difference centers on a protein called PPARα, which activates liver regeneration. Normally, mouse PPARα is far more active and efficient than the human form, allowing mice to quickly regenerate damaged livers.

1 Apr 2015

New HCV therapies cost-effective in specific groups of HCV-infected patients

A study led by Boston Medical Center researchers demonstrates that while new therapies to treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are highly effective, they are cost-effective and provide the greatest value in specific groups of HCV-infected patients.

31 Mar 2015

Higher levels of vitamin D decrease pain, improve function in obese patients with osteoarthritis

Got milk? If you are overweight and have osteoarthritis, you may want to bone up on your dairy products that have vitamin D.

31 Mar 2015

Reoccurring oxygen deprivation during pregnancy affects offspring's liver function

Sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep, is a potentially serious condition because it deprives the body of oxygen. It becomes an even more serious condition in pregnant women—who can be more prone to it—because the oxygen deprivation may affect the baby.

30 Mar 2015

DURECT initiates DUR-928 multi-dose Phase 1 clinical trial for NAFLD, NASH and AKI

DURECT Corporation today announced that it has initiated a multi-dose Phase 1 clinical trial of an oral formulation of DUR-928, the lead molecule in DURECT's Epigenomic Regulator Program.

30 Mar 2015

Synageva announces submission of Kanuma application to Cofepris for treatment of LAL Deficiency

Synageva BioPharma Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic products for rare disorders, announced today the submission to the Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios in Mexico for Kanuma as a treatment for patients with lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL Deficiency), a rare genetic disease with significant morbidity and early mortality.

30 Mar 2015

New study opens door to preventative treatments for congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is not as well known as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, but like them it is a life-threatening birth defect, and is just as common. Occurring in one in 3,000 births, CDH causes the guts and liver to protrude through a defective diaphragm and into the chest cavity, where they interfere with the lungs.

30 Mar 2015

GFT505 demonstrates dose-dependent efficacy on primary endpoint in phase 2 NASH trial

GENFIT, today announces topline results of the phase 2 GOLDEN-505 trial in NASH. Due to the unexpected rate of resolution of NASH in patients randomized to placebo who had early NASH (NAS of 3, placebo response rate>57%), along with the high number of sites for a limited sample size, the study as initially designed did not enable the trial to meet directly the primary endpoint.

27 Mar 2015

Transition announces positive results from ELND005 AME and renal clearance studies

Transition Therapeutics Inc. today announced results from two phase 1 clinical studies of neuropsychiatric drug candidate ELND005. These studies, an absorption-metabolism-excretion ("AME") study and a renal clearance study, are specialized clinical pharmacology trials that are required by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the approval of most drugs in development.

26 Mar 2015

Study: HBV exposure increases immune system maturation of infants

A Singapore led study has shown that Hepatitis B Virus Infection (HBV) exposure increases the immune system maturation of infants, which may give a better survival advantage to counteract bacterial infection during early life. These findings radically modify the way that HBV vertical infection of neonates (mother-to-child) is portrayed, and present a paradigm shift in the approach to treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B.

26 Mar 2015

Multimodality at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging: an interview with Professor Mark Lythgoe, UCL

Imaging techniques used to live in medical physics departments, where physicists worked on them, but now we're seeing biologists, cell biologists and developmental biologists looking at cellular processes and it's those advances that are really enabling imaging to move forward in a way that it hasn't previously been able to...

From Bruker BioSpin Group 25 Mar 2015

Study finds clustered cardiometabolic risk factors in children

Lifestyle-related cardiometabolic risk factors cluster already in children in the same way as in adults, according to research from the University of Eastern Finland. A cardiometabolic risk score was used to evaluate cardiometabolic risk in different age groups.

25 Mar 2015

Discovery opens door to possible new ways to break transmission cycle of schistosomiasis

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a group of genes in one species of snail that provide a natural resistance to the flatworm parasite that causes schistosomiasis, and opens the door to possible new drugs or ways to break the transmission cycle of this debilitating disease.

25 Mar 2015

University of Michigan scientists grow first 3D mini lungs from human stem cells

Scientists from the University of Michigan have grown the first 3D mini lungs from stem cells. The study, published in eLife, compliments other developments in the field such as growing mainly 2D structures and building lung tissue from the scaffold of donated organs.

25 Mar 2015

Loyola ophthalmologist recommends specific foods and supplements for healthy vision

You may remember your mother telling you to eat your carrots; they are good for your eyes. Well, she was right. "Carrots are actually just one of the many foods, and supplements that contribute to good eye health," says James McDonnell, MD, pediatric ophthalmologist, Loyola University Health System. "In some cases, eyesight can actually be improved depending on what you eat."

24 Mar 2015

Plexin D1 gene determines body fat distribution in humans

Scientists have known for some time that people who carry a lot of weight around their bellies are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease than those who have bigger hips and thighs.

24 Mar 2015

Liver News and Research

Pseudogenes may play role in cancer development, shows study

Study calls for more intensive psychotherapeutic support for patients with alcohol addiction

Study: 'Open' stem cell chromosomes hold great promise for treating liver, pancreas diseases

Scientists develop computer model to predict how liver stores fat

FGF21 protein can boost regenerative effects of human PPARα

New HCV therapies cost-effective in specific groups of HCV-infected patients

Higher levels of vitamin D decrease pain, improve function in obese patients with osteoarthritis

Reoccurring oxygen deprivation during pregnancy affects offspring's liver function

DURECT initiates DUR-928 multi-dose Phase 1 clinical trial for NAFLD, NASH and AKI

Synageva announces submission of Kanuma application to Cofepris for treatment of LAL Deficiency

New study opens door to preventative treatments for congenital diaphragmatic hernia

GFT505 demonstrates dose-dependent efficacy on primary endpoint in phase 2 NASH trial

Transition announces positive results from ELND005 AME and renal clearance studies

Study: HBV exposure increases immune system maturation of infants

Multimodality at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging: an interview with Professor Mark Lythgoe, UCL

Study finds clustered cardiometabolic risk factors in children

Discovery opens door to possible new ways to break transmission cycle of schistosomiasis

University of Michigan scientists grow first 3D mini lungs from human stem cells

Loyola ophthalmologist recommends specific foods and supplements for healthy vision

Plexin D1 gene determines body fat distribution in humans

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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