New Hope for Liver Diseases ( Scientists generate liver cells from ...)

New Hope for Liver Diseases

Date:5/23/2008

Scientists generate liver cells from embryonic stem cells, find clues to predict response to therapy

FRIDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Human liver cells have been generated from embryonic stem cells using a new model, hopefully opening the door to help scientists screen for harmful side effects of new drugs before they are used in patients.

That was one of several reports on advances against liver diseases that were presented this week at Digestive Disease Week 2008 in San Diego.

Other presentations involved ways to predict which patients with hepatitis C might benefit from long-term antibiotic therapy and information about how monitoring the body's viral load in hepatitis B patients may help predict liver cancer.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, reported they had efficiently generated human liver cells from embryonic stem cells without the problems that have plagued scientists in the past. The new model is unique, said Dr. David Hay, a senior fellow at the university's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, who spoke at a press conference Tuesday.

His team developed a model that allows them to focus on key enzymes which are crucial in drug metabolism. Other clinical applications, he said, include the fact that the liver cells generated in vitro could be used in bioartificial devices, helping maintain normal function when the liver fails.

Down the road, said another investigator, Dr. Philip Newsome, the hope is that the cells could be used in liver transplantation.

The advance was praised by the press conference moderator, Dr. John M. Vierling, chief of hepatology at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston.

The team produced "highly differentiated cells that maintain function," Vierling said, a feat that has thus far proved elusive to others working on the effort. "It is an extraordinarily rich advance to be exploited in many ways," he added.

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