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.

Children's Hospital 1 of 10 pediatric hospitals in US selected to study liver disease in kids

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has been selected to join an effort among select centers in the United States and Canada to collect and study information necessary to understand the possible causes and treatment of a destructive liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

27 Feb 2008

Advanced Cell Technology demonstrates highly efficient process for the generation of high-purity hepatocytes

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. has reported for the first time a robust and highly efficient process for the generation of high-purity hepatocytes (liver cells).

21 Feb 2008

New draft Australian drink guidelines rubbished as unrealistic

The recently released Australian draft guidelines on alcohol which set a two-drinks-a-day limit on adults while warning pregnant women and young people not to drink at all, have been come in for some harsh criticism.

19 Feb 2008

Endurance training improves metabolism in mice

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated that in mice, the use of barbells may be as important to losing weight and improving health as the use of running shoes.

7 Feb 2008

Mayo Clinic Proceedings contributors discuss impact of donor organ allocation system

Liver transplant is a life saving treatment option for people with end-stage liver disease.

7 Feb 2008

Europe's most common genetic disease is a liver disorder

Much less widely known than the dangerous consequences of iron deficiencies is the fact that too much iron can also cause problems.

7 Feb 2008

Both Alpha-Hydroxy and Beta-Hydroxy acid peels promise relief for acne sufferers

Chemical peels using either alpha-hydroxy acid or beta-hydroxy acid are both highly effective in treating mild to moderately severe facial acne, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found - the first study to compare the two different types of acid peels as therapies for the skin disorder.

6 Feb 2008

Two new studies examine non-invasive ways to determine liver fibrosis and cirrhosis

An enhanced version of the Original European Liver Fibrosis panel was found to have good diagnostic accuracy for fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Conversely, transient elastography was unreliable for detecting cirrhosis in patients with acute liver damage. The studies are published in the February issue of Hepatology, a journal by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The articles are also available online at Wiley Interscience.

5 Feb 2008

Smaller pancreatic tumors greatly increase survival odds

The odds of surviving cancer of the pancreas increase dramatically for patients whose tumors are smallest, according to a new study by researchers at Saint Louis University and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston - the first study to specifically evaluate the link between tumor size and survival rates for one of the most common and deadly cancers.

28 Jan 2008

Arthritis drug Etanercept clears up symptoms of psoriasis

New research from the United States has found that a drug commonly used to treat arthritis significantly reduces the symptoms of psoriasis in children.

20 Jan 2008

Gender differences in liver cancer

A fundamental difference in the way males and females respond to chronic liver disease at the genetic level helps explain why men are more prone to liver cancer, according to MIT researchers.

16 Jan 2008

Seasonal flu levels trigger use of antiviral drugs

The Health Protection Agency has confirmed that the rate at which influenza viruses are now circulating in England has reached the point which triggers the use of antiviral drugs.

11 Jan 2008

Review of transplant issues in patients with biliary atresia

The most common indication worldwide for pediatric transplantation, biliary atresia is also the most common cause of chronic liver disease in newborns.

9 Jan 2008

Takeda submits NDA for Alogliptin (SYR-322) in the U.S.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) has announced that Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc. submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for alogliptin (development code: SYR-322), a highly selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor under investigation for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

7 Jan 2008

Optimal therapy for U.S. hepatitis C patients

As reported recently in the journal Hepatology, WIN-R, a multicenter study of over 5,000 patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) showed treatment with weight-based REBETOL ribavirin, USP) (RBV) in combination with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2b achieved significantly higher rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) and lower relapse rates compared to combination therapy using a flat dose of RBV 800 mg/day. Superior response was found particularly in patients with the most difficult-to-treat form of the disease, genotype 1 HCV. Efficacy was consistent across all weight groups.

28 Dec 2007

Fibrosis in the liver stopped and reversed by researchers

University of California, San Diego researchers have proven in animal studies that fibrosis in the liver can be not only stopped, but reversed.

28 Dec 2007

Researchers prevent muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis - a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder - can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

20 Dec 2007