New drug successfully halts fibrosis in animal model of liver disease

 

A study published in the online journal Hepatology reports a potential new NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor therapy for liver fibrosis, a scarring process associated with chronic liver disease that can lead to loss of liver function.

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Japanese scientists show ‘new’ liver generation using hepatocyte cell transplantation

Researchers in Japan have found that hepatocytes, cells comprising the main tissue of the liver and involved in protein synthesis and storage, can assist in tissue engineering and create a “new liver system” in mouse models when donor mouse liver hepatocytes are isolated and propagated for transplantation. Their study is published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (21:2/3), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/,

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Adult stem cells take root in livers and repair damage

Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that human liver cells derived from adult cells coaxed into an embryonic state can engraft and begin regenerating liver tissue in mice with chronic liver damage.

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Liver-cell transplants show promise in reversing genetic disease affecting liver and lungs

April 21, 2011 — (Bronx, NY) — Transplanting cells from healthy adult livers may work in treating a genetic liver-lung disorder that affects millions of people worldwide, according to an animal study in the April 18 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury, M.D. , professor of medicine and of genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, is the study’s senior author.

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Scientists grow human liver tissue to be used for transplantation

Experimental human model advances liver cell transplantation

A new study reports on the success of growing human liver cells on resorbable scaffolds made from material similar to surgical sutures. Researchers suggest that this liver tissue could be used in place of donor organs during liver transplantation or during the bridge period until a suitable donor is available for patients with acute liver failure. Findings of this study appear in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

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Gene mutation play a major role in 1 cause of kidney disease

Screening may be warranted when the disease runs in families

Mutations in a gene called INF2 are by far the most common cause of a dominantly inherited condition that leads to kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results may help with screening, prevention, and therapy.

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Olive oil protects liver

Extra-virgin olive oil can protect the liver from oxidative stress. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism exposed rats to a moderately toxic herbicide known to deplete antioxidants and cause oxidative stress, finding that those rats fed on a diet containing the olive oil were partially protected from the resulting liver damage.

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Stem cell technology applied to liver diseases

Great excitement greeted the discovery a few years ago that certain cells from mice and humans could be reprogrammed to become inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), as they hold promise for cell replacement therapy and modeling human disease. Two independent research groups — one led by Ludovic Vallier, at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and the other led by Holger Willenbring, at the University of California San Francisco — have now shown that both possibilities are true for iPS cell–derived liver cells known as hepatocytes.

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High fructose, trans fats lead to significant liver disease, says study

Scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered that a diet with high levels of fructose – levels equivalent to that in high fructose corn syrup – and of trans fats not only increases obesity, but also leads to significant fatty liver disease with scar tissue.

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Adults with newly diagnosed diabetes at risk of liver disease

Adults with newly diagnosed diabetes are at higher long-term risk of serious liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver failure, according to a research article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj092144.pdf.

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