Liver Transplant News and Research

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When a patient presents with end stage liver disease or liver failure he or she may be considered for a liver transplantation. The first step in this is often a rigorous assessment and being placed on a waiting list.

Analysis reveals improved survivorship for acute liver failure patients

More patients hospitalized with acute liver failure - often the result of acetaminophen overdose - are surviving, including those who receive a liver transplant and those who don't, an analysis led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher showed.

5 Apr 2016

DAA medication could lead to revolution in hepatitis C treatment

The cost of treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) could be cut up to 50 percent if mathematical models are used to predict when patients can safely stop taking direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medication, according to a new study by researchers at Loyola University Health System and Loyola University Chicago

23 Mar 2016

Mycophenolate mofetil drug seems safe, effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis

New research indicates that mycophenolate mofetil, a drug that is usually used to prevent rejection after kidney, heart or liver transplant, seems safe and effective in treating autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a serious chronic liver disease that mainly affects women.

22 Mar 2016

MUSC surgeon awarded $3.8 million grant to evaluate transplant drug

Seldom can one say $3.8 million is just the tip of the iceberg, but a newly awarded grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc. is just that. MUSC transplant surgeon Kenneth Chavin, M.D., Ph.D., says the true value of the multi-center drug trial is closer to $26 million, including $22 million in free drugs provided by the pharmaceutical company.

17 Mar 2016

Modified protein appears to reverse liver fibrosis, cirrhosis in rats

A protein modified to increase the amount of time it circulates in the bloodstream appears to reverse liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in rats, according to results of a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

3 Mar 2016

SOM0226 (tolcapone) drug could significantly improve pharmacological treatment of ATTR

Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (IBB-UAB), in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company SOM Biotech, located in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), have published, in Nature Communications, the results of a drug repositioning study in which they describe a powerful drug, SOM0226 (tolcapone) that could significantly improve the pharmacological treatment of familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR).

24 Feb 2016

Johns Hopkins becomes first center in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants

Johns Hopkins recently received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to be the first hospital in the U.S. to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants. The institution will be the first in the nation to do an HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant and the first in the world to execute an HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant.

11 Feb 2016

UC San Diego School of Medicine launches new NAFLD Research Center

Roughly one-quarter of all Americans - an estimated 100 million adults and children - have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic condition that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.

9 Feb 2016

New way to more efficiently deliver CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutic to mice with Tyrosinemia type I

University of Massachusetts Medical School researchers have found a way to more efficiently delivery a CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutic to adult mice with the metabolic disease Tyrosinemia type I that may also prove to be safer for use in humans.

2 Feb 2016

EC approves expanded use of Daklinza (daclatasvir) for patients with chronic HCV and HIV co-infection

Bristol-Myers Squibb today announced that the European Commission has approved the expanded use of Daklinza, a first-in-class oral, once-a-day pill used in combination with other treatments as an option for adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection who are co-infected with HIV or who have had a prior liver transplant.

30 Jan 2016

Scientists reveal why non-alcoholic steatohepatitis worsens in obese people

In results published on October 19, 2015 in the Journal of Lipid Research, a team of translational scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina report a new reason why non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) worsens in people who are obese.

20 Jan 2016

Prophylaxis treatment can protect children who receive liver transplants from HBV-infected donors

Researchers have found that a prophylaxis treatment can prevent new-onset hepatitis B in children who receive liver transplants from donors who were previously infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) but had successfully cleared the virus.

16 Dec 2015

Fewer than 1 in 3 UK hospitals employ full-time doctors specialized in liver medicine

Despite rising rates of alcohol- and obesity-related liver disease, fewer than 1 in 3 UK hospitals employ a full-time liver specialist

22 Nov 2015

SLU hepatologist receives $150,000 grant to study preventative strategies for TPN-associated disorders

When a child is born prematurely, providing nutrition intravenously can be lifesaver. Unfortunately it can also cause liver damage down the road.

29 Oct 2015

Nurses who work with organ transplant patients experience high levels of emotional exhaustion

More than half of nurses who work with organ transplant patients in the United States experience high levels of emotional exhaustion, a primary sign of burnout, according to a study published by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

7 Oct 2015

University of Michigan-led team performs first kidney transplants in Ethiopia

A University of Michigan-led team performed the first kidney transplants in Ethiopia last week, after spending more than two years to help establish a transplant center in the African country.

30 Sep 2015

Surgeons participate in record-setting day of organ transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center

One week ago, surgical teams took part in a record-setting day of organ transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Surgeons on the medical staff performed nine organ transplants on seven patients in one calendar day.

11 Sep 2015

Liver failure patients may benefit from CSF-1 treatment that aids the immune system to combat infections

Patients with liver failure could benefit from a treatment that helps the immune system to combat infections linked to the condition, research suggests.

10 Sep 2015

MACC1 gene can help predict better treatment options for patients with Klatskin carcinoma

Bile duct cancer is rare and is usually detected too late. Often only extensive liver surgery can help or, in rare cases, liver transplantation. But which patients will benefit from surgery and which will not, because their risk of cancer recurrence is too high? With the oncogene MACC1 as a biomarker, physicians for the first time have a tool to decide which treatment option is best for patients with Klatskin carcinoma, one type of bile duct cancer.

1 Sep 2015

Envarsus XR granted FDA orphan drug designation for prophylaxis of organ rejection in kidney transplant patients

Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S, today announced that Envarsus XR was granted Orphan Drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients who convert from immediate-release tacrolimus. Envarsus XR received marketing authorization from the FDA on July 10, 2015.

14 Aug 2015