Tag: Liver Disease

Disease-driving B cells play a role in the development of NAFLD

New research from the University of Minnesota Medical School suggests that disease-driving B cells, a white blood cell, play a role in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) – the most common chronic liver condition in the U.S. Their findings could lead to targeted therapies for NAFLD, which currently affects a quarter of

Obesity and Urinary Incontinence

Obesity and urinary incontinence are both common disorders. The prevalence of obesity is on the rise worldwide with a 6% increase per year in the United States. Obesity Over half of American women are overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMI 30 kg/m2 or greater). Obesity is associated with several health conditions including

Targeting apolipoprotein E could be key to eliminating hepatitis B virus

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) promotes hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and production, according to a study published Aug 8 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Luhua Qiao and Guangxiang (George) Luo of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. The findings suggest that inhibitors interfering with apoE biogenesis, secretion, and/or binding to

How hepatitis B and delta viruses establish infection of liver cells: Researchers explore infection using new cell culture system

Princeton University researchers have developed a new, scalable cell culture system that allows for detailed investigation of how host cells respond to infection with hepatitis B (HBV) and delta virus (HDV). The paper describing their findings was published online on June 18, 2019 in the journal Hepatology. HBV causes an acute illness that is usually

Predictors that determine toxic fats in the liver

Accumulation of fat in the liver, known as fatty liver disease, is experienced by over 5.5 million Australians, including more than 40% of all adults over the age of 50. Fatty liver develops from a combination of both genetic and environmental causes, which influence the age of onset and severity of the disease. Experts are

Progress against hepatitis C by 2030 is possible

A comprehensive package of prevention, screening, and treatment interventions could avert 15.1 million new hepatitis C infections and 1.5 million cirrhosis and liver cancer deaths globally by 2030 — equal to an 80% reduction in incidence and a 60% reduction in deaths compared with 2015, according to the first study to model hepatitis C interventions

Genetic disease healed using genome editing

Parents of newborns may be familiar with the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria: in Switzerland, all newborn babies are screened for this genetic disease. If a baby is found to have phenylketonuria, it needs a special diet so that the amino acid phenylalanine does not accumulate in the body. Excess phenylalanine delays mental and motor development. If

Caspase-2 enzyme inhibitor shows promise for ameliorating fatty liver disease: Researchers identify enzyme as responsible for onset and progression of fatty liver disease in mice and human clinical specimens

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered using mice and human clinical specimens, that caspase-2, a protein-cleaving enzyme, is a critical driver of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic and aggressive liver condition. By identifying caspase-2’s critical role, they believe an inhibitor of this enzyme could provide an effective way to

Progress toward improved Wilson’s disease drug

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), working in collaboration with DepYmed Inc., a CSHL spinout company, today report that they have conducted promising preclinical experiments on a compound that could be used to treat Wilson’s disease and possibly other disorders — including certain types of cancer — in which levels of copper in the

More patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis receiving liver transplants: Medical centers willing to perform transplants without mandated six-month wait

Increasingly, liver transplant centers are changing a long-standing practice of delaying potentially life-saving liver transplantation for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis until after they stopped drinking alcohol for six months, according to a new study scheduled for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2018. Study implications “Liver transplant for severe alcoholic hepatitis is being increasingly

Gut check: Metabolites shed by intestinal microbiota keep inflammation at bay: Researchers find inflammatory response in fatty liver disease is reduced by two tryptophan metabolites from gut bacteria

Researchers at Tufts University have elucidated a mechanism by which the “good” bacteria that reside in our gastrointestinal tract can help protect us from inflammation, and how their disruption (dysbiosis) can increase the susceptibility of the liver to more harmful forms of disease. Their study, now available in the journal Cell Reports, identified two key

Sensitive new assay detects hepatitis B infection in single liver cells and serum: Technique measuring the cccDNA marker may allow earlier detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients, reports The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A study published in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes a new HBV assay that offers advantages over currently used methods because it has the capability to detect closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in serum, single cells, and preserved tissue samples. This assay