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.

Physicians do not talk to patients about psychosocial impact and long-term risks of ICDs

New research at Saint Louis University shows physicians do not talk to patients about the psychosocial impact and long-term risks of implanting cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to treat irregular heart rhythms, leaving them misinformed about how the device may affect quality of life.

20 Feb 2013

Defensive medicine under attack

Around one-eighth of all requests for tests and procedures by gastroenterologists are attributable to the practice of defensive medicine, Italian research shows.

14 Feb 2013

LASAG trial for severe influenza initiated

...

12 Feb 2013

Florida Hospital, Sanford-Burnham and Takeda renew research agreement

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) and Florida Hospital announced today that they have renewed a research agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) to extend their collaboration to discover and evaluate new therapeutic approaches to obesity. The collaboration uses a research and drug-development model that creates an early feedback loop in the discovery pipeline.

12 Feb 2013

MRI promising for noninvasive hepatic steatosis assessment

Magnetic resonance imaging allows accurate measurement of the extent and severity of hepatic steatosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, demonstrate the results of two studies published in Radiology.

11 Feb 2013

Researchers discover miR-27b that regulates lipid levels in the blood

Researchers have identified a microRNA liver gene, miR-27b, which regulates lipid (cholesterol or fat) levels in the blood. This regulator gene controls multiple genes involved in dyslipidemia-abnormal blood cholesterol levels that can contribute to heart disease.

11 Feb 2013

Scientists discover natural trigger that enables stem cell development

A natural trigger that enables stem cells to become any cell-type in the body has been discovered by scientists.

10 Feb 2013

Liver gene found to regulate cholesterol and fat blood levels

Researchers have identified a microRNA liver gene, miR-27b, which regulates lipid (cholesterol or fat) levels in the blood. This regulator gene controls multiple genes involved in dyslipidemia—abnormal blood cholesterol levels that can contribute to heart disease.

7 Feb 2013

Donor liver quality: an interview with Dr Eric Orman

Liver transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a liver (or part of a liver) is removed from a donor and placed into a recipient. Although some transplants use a portion of the liver of living donors, the vast majority of donors are deceased.

6 Feb 2013

DHA more effective than EPA in preventing liver inflammation and fibrosis

Research at Oregon State University has found that one particular omega-3 fatty acid has a powerful effect in preventing liver inflammation and fibrosis - common problems that are steadily rising along with the number of Americans who are overweight.

6 Feb 2013

Teva initiates enrollment in AZILECT Phase IV clinical study for PD-MCI

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today enrollment of the first patient in the MODERATO study - a Phase IV clinical study designed to evaluate the effect of AZILECT (rasagiline tablets) on cognitive function in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI).

6 Feb 2013

Synageva announces 12-week data from sebelipase alfa Phase I/II study on LAL Deficiency

Synageva BioPharma Corp. (Synageva), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic products for rare diseases, today announced publication of the 12-week Phase I/II extension study data of sebelipase alfa in adults with lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL Deficiency) in the online version and an upcoming print edition of Hepatology

5 Feb 2013

Gilead Sciences fourth quarter total revenues increase 18% to $2.59 billion

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today its results of operations for the fourth quarter and full year 2012.

5 Feb 2013

Interferon retreatment warning in HCV

Hepatitis C virus patients who do not respond to interferon should not receive further treatment with the drug, say the authors of a new Cochrane review.

4 Feb 2013

Galectin submits GR-MD-02 IND application with FDA for treatment of liver fibrosis

Galectin Therapeutics, the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, announced today that it submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 30, 2013.

1 Feb 2013

Interferon retreatment of chronic hepatitis C may be harmful

People with hepatitis C and chronic liver disease who relapsed or failed to respond to initial treatment are unlikely to improve on interferon retreatment. In fact, they may face an increased risk of dying sooner, and are likely to experience a variety of adverse effects, according to an updated systematic review published in The Cochrane Library.

31 Jan 2013

Finding medical applications for unused inventions: an interview with Gabriel Mecklenburg, Co-Founder of Marblar

Marblar is gamifying the process of technology transfer. We post technology on our platform in the form of a challenge, and the Marblar community then competes to uncover new problems these technologies could solve – thereby discovering new market applications for these technologies.

31 Jan 2013

FDA approves Genzyme’s KYNAMRO to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its New Drug Application (NDA) for KYNAMROTM (mipomersen sodium) injection.

30 Jan 2013

Genzyme receives FDA approval for Kynamro to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kynamro (mipomersen sodium) injection as an addition to lipid-lowering medications and diet to treat patients with a rare type of high cholesterol called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

30 Jan 2013

Janssen, Medivir and Idenix partner for clinical development of HCV combination therapy

Medivir AB today announced a non-exclusive collaboration between Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Janssen) and Idenix Pharmaceuticals for the clinical development of an all-oral (interferon-free) direct-acting antiviral (DAA) hepatitis C (HCV) combination therapy.

29 Jan 2013