Cirrhosis in Biological News

Ocera Therapeutics licenses novel treatment for acute hepatic encephalopathy from UCLB

... treatment of AHE in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis and acute liver failure. The licensing ... Clinical trials in patients with AHE due to cirrhosis and acute liver failure will be carried out at ... It is estimated that there are up to 1 million cirrhosis patients in the U.S. Acute liver failure is a ...

Toxic bile damages the liver

... to the toxic components of the bile, resulting in cirrhosis of liver, a transformation of liver cells into ... This could explain some of the cases of liver cirrhosis of unknown origin and open up a new approach for ... Some of the known frequent causes of cirrhosis of the liver are liver inflammation due to a ...

Targeting nerve growth factor may cure liver cancer

... in the liver of the patients troubled with liver cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) while these ... (so called paracrine) in patients with liver cirrhosis and/or HCC. These important discoveries ... a critical role in the development of liver cirrhosis and its progression towards HCC. Based on this ...

American Chemical Society's weekly PressPac -- May 27, 2009

... as a potential new treatment for liver fibrosis the disease that leads to cirrhosis scientists in Tennessee are reporting. Their study is scheduled for the June 1 issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics , a bi-monthly journal. cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. Ram Mahato and ...

Eltrombopag effective for hepatitis C patients with low blood-platelet counts

... placebo-controlled study followed 74 patients with low platelet counts and cirrhosis of the liver due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Seventy-four ... liver cancer and death in others. HCV infection is a common cause of cirrhosis and the most common reason for a liver transplant. With other ...

The hepatitis healing power of blueberry leaves

... Hepatitis C virus, opening up a new avenue for treating chronic HCV infections, which affect 200 million people worldwide and can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Among the areas of especially high Hepatitis C incidence is the Miyazaki prefecture of southern Japan, a trend that led Hiroaki ...

When acute hepatitis develops into chronic hepatitis

... becomes chronic, that is to say, the viruses remain in the liver. If left untreated, chronic hepatitis B can lead to a change in consciousness, cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. Until today scientists have not fully understood the role that the immune system plays in characterising an acute or chronic ...

Preventing a broken heart: Research aims to reduce scarring from heart attacks

... formation may interact. The protein may also be important in treating other diseases resulting in severe fibrosis, adds Greenspan, including liver cirrhosis and interstitial lung disease. ...

Apple or pear shape is not main culprit to heart woes -- it's liver fat

... senior investigator Samuel Klein, M.D., the Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science. "That can lead to serious liver disorders such as cirrhosis in extreme cases, but more often it tends to have metabolic consequences." Klein, who heads the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science and ...

Resveratrol prevents fat accumulation in livers of 'alcoholic' mice

... rate at which fat within the liver is broken down. Chronic alcohol consumption causes fat to accumulate and can lead to liver diseases, including cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver. It can also result in liver failure. The study points to resveratrol as a possible treatment for alcoholic fatty liver ...

Closing the gap: Journal launch brings together wound-healing knowledge

... inflammatory and fibrogenic disorders such as cardiovascular disease, pulmonary fibrosis, progressive kidney disease, systemic sclerosis, liver cirrhosis and inflammatory bowel disease. Fibrogenesis and Tissue Repair features high-quality studies providing novel insights into the mechanisms, diagnosis ...

Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution

... seeping through." Arsenic is toxic to all living cells, and in people causes fatal cancers of the lung, liver, kidney and bladder. It also causes cirrhosis and gangrene, and on a wider scale seriously damages wildlife in fragile environments. Arsenic contamination is a global problem, with some countries ...

Hepatitis C virus may need enzyme's help to cause liver disease

... may explain how hepatitis C infection causes fatty liver a buildup of excess fat in the liver, which can lead to life-threatening diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, report University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine researchers. The study, published in ...

Nucleonics initiates hepatitis B clinical trial with expressed interfering RNA therapeutic

... to benefit from treatment. Nucleonics plans to enroll a total of 15 patients infected with HBV with mild to moderate disease and no evidence of cirrhosis at three U.S. clinical sites and two sites in Eastern Europe. The patients are being organized into five escalating dose groups of three patients per ...

Gene variation may elevate risk of liver tumor in patients with cirrhosis

... A particular gene variation appears to significantly increase the risk that individuals with cirrhosis of the liver will go on to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver tumor that is the third leading cause of cancer death. In the January 2 ...

Possible hepatitis C vaccine

... towards a vaccine. Hepatitis C treatment is expensive and not successful in all patients. Untreated or unresponsive patients can go on to develop cirrhosis of the liver, with life affecting consequences or the need for a liver transplant. Dr Alexander Tarr, a Research Fellow at the Institute of ...

Who will recover spontaneously from hepatitis C virus infection

... C virus (HCV). The outcome of HCV infections is either self recovery or chronic hepatitis, and many of the chronic infections will develop into liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. Since there is no cure for chronic hepatitis C, nor is there any approved vaccine for this virus, hepatitis C is currently a major ...

Clearance of hepatitis C viral infection after liver transplantation

... Ichikawa in the Nagasaki University Hospital, Japan in 2004. This patient was quite a challenge for Dr Ichikawa. She was 60 years old with liver cirrhosis (LC) and liver cancer caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV); she had been diagnosed diabetic since 1995; and previous chemotherapies aiming to remove ...

Double the death rate from cirrhosis for 'blue collar' men

... death rates among Australian men from liver cirrhosis between 1981 and 2002. Their results were ... of their heavy and binge drinking. Liver cirrhosis accounted for 3.3 percent of all deaths among men ... is the 10th largest overall killer of men. cirrhosis is believed to develop in about 15 percent of ...

New test helps identify hepatitis C patients at high risk of developing cirrhosis

... patients who are at high risk of developing cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis C infection. That means ... off delaying treatment. "Management of cirrhosis patients is challenging," said Ramsey Cheung, ... as a "signature" for predicting progression to cirrhosis in Caucasians. The resulting gene signature ...

Investigating 'brain shrinkage' in alcoholics

... deficiency can contribute to impaired cognition. cirrhosis of the liver, also common in alcoholics, is known ... the alcohol, thiamine deficiency and cirrhosis ?are linked and probably contribute in a complex ... Structural and functional changes seen in cirrhosis of the liver are also potentially reversible if ...

Research Gives Hope For Liver Damage

... increase in the number of men aged 45-54 dying of cirrhosis since 1970 and a threefold increase in women of ... with advanced liver fibrosis (scarring) and cirrhosis (end stage scarring of the liver). Currently, we have no effective treatment for liver cirrhosis which is associated with internal bleeding, liver ...

UCLA study assesses cost-effectiveness of Hepatitis B drugs

... for various patient scenarios including viral resistance, development of cirrhosis and other factors affecting treatment. Health costs included physician ... liver cells and chronic hepatitis B disease can lead to liver failure, cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. About 90 percent of healthy adults who are ...

Risk of lymphoma increases with hepatitis C virus infection

... person through the exchange of bodily fluids -- via shared needles, open wounds, and sexual contact, among other means. HCV is also known to cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. "Although the risk of developing lymphomas is small, our research suggests that screening of HCV-infected individuals could ...

Protein found that slows hepatitis C growth in liver cells

... the virus less than 50 percent of the time and causes debilitating side effects. Those for whom that treatment fails are at high risk for fatal cirrhosis or liver cancer. In the United States, about half of all liver cancer cases occur in people infected by hepatitis C virus. The UTMB scientists ...

Light wine intake is associated with longer life expectancy in men

... wine only held up for light alcohol consumption in middle-aged men. Heavy alcohol consumption may cause accidents and diseases such as cancer and cirrhosis of the liver, even though this was not observed in our study. Since alcohol consumption can be addictive, starting to drink alcohol because of its ...

Interaction between lymph and liver cells may affect immune response

... for liver conditions associated with altered LSEC morphology and in particular those conditions associated with loss of fenestrations such as cirrhosis and old age," the authors conclude. "We have shown [in previous studies] that old age is associated with dramatic reductions in the fenestrations of ...

Molecular 'on/off switch' controls immune defenses against viruses

... transmitted by intravenous drug use, blood transfusions and sexual contact. It affects 4 million U.S. residents and is the nation's leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In 2005 Dr. Gale and his team completed several breakthrough studies on hepatitis C, discovering that the RIG-I protein binds ...

Statins stop hepatitis C virus from replicating

... and ribavirin, which is only effective in about 55 percent of patients. The remaining 45 percent face a threat of the disease progressing to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Based on recent reports that one statin, lovastatin, inhibits HCV replication, researchers led by Masanori Ikeda of Okayama ...

Researcher studies, treats military with 'silent disease'

... a condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy tissue, blocking the flow of blood through the organ and preventing it from working as it should. cirrhosis is the twelfth leading cause of death by disease, killing about 26,000 people each year, according to The National Digestive Diseases Information ...

Texas scientists discover how a hepatitis C protein promotes liver cancer

... interferon therapy, works only about half the time and often causes debilitating side effects. Those who fail treatment are at risk for fatal cirrhosis or developing liver cancer. Researchers have known for a long time that hepatitis C virus infection can lead to liver cancer. But how the virus ...

Identification of specific genes predicts which patients will respond to Hepatitis C treatment

... (HCV). About 230,000 Canadians are infected with it, and about 170 million people worldwide. Over time the viral infection leads to liver damage, cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. It is currently the leading indication for liver transplants. Liver biopsies were performed on the 31 chronic HCV patients ...

FDA Approves New Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B

... Chronic hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that attacks the liver. The virus can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.25 ...

Owl genomics presents a HEPATOCHIP for diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

... hepatocyte damage and inflammation resembling alcoholic hepatitis. NASH is a critical stage in the process that spans from hepatic steatosis to cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. NASH is one of the most common causes of elevated aminotransfereases in patients referred for evaluation to hepatologists. ...

Surprising findings reported about iron overload

... of a pint of blood by phlebotomy ?can permit the progressive accumulation of iron deposits in target organs that may result in complications such as cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, arthritis, diabetes, impotence and heart failure. "The finding that Asians and Pacific Islanders have high levels of ...

Studies reveal methods viruses use to sidestep immune system

... primarily through intravenous drug use, blood transfusions or blood products, as well as through sexual contact and is the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer. UT Southwestern Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) student Eileen Foy was an author on all three papers. MSTP student ...