Feature Channels: Liver Disease

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Research from the University of Michigan suggests that one day a phone app could be able to detect the development of hepatic encephalopathy in patients just by listening to them speak.

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Receiving a liver transplant means also living with the possibility of rejection. Transplant rejection occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the new organ. This risk is highest in the first year after the transplant, but rejection can happen at any time. To prevent this, patients take powerful medications to suppress their immune system and reduce inflammation.

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Formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is an inflammatory disease characterized by liver scarring or fibrosis that progressively impairs liver function. It is a major risk factor for cirrhosis and liver cancer. And because treatment options are limited, MASH is the second leading cause for liver transplants in the United States after cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis C infection. A better understanding of the pathological processes that drive MASH is critical to creating effective treatments. In a new paper published August 19, 2024 in PNAS, a team of scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys, the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere, describe the complex interplay between diseased liver cells and macrophages — a type of white blood cell whose jobs include killing and removing harmful cells and pathogens and helping to spur normal healing.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.

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Drugs such as Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy have made news for their abilities to treat diabetes and encourage weight loss. To give a clearer understanding of the benefits and risks of GLP-1 agonists for patients with liver disease, Robert Fontana, M.D., a Michigan Medicine hepatologist, answered our questions.

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The August issue of AJG includes articles on IBD, including the use of telehealth and added risks for RSV hospitalization, and the updated nomenclature for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

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People suffering from cirrhosis may find some symptom relief from two accessible activities: stretching and meditation. A study from the University of Michigan compared the two therapies as a means to relieve nocturnal muscle cramps and found both effective. 

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Taghreed Mohammed Al-Turki, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the UNC Lineberger lab of Jack Griffith, PhD, describes her long, difficult, and rewarding journey of becoming a telomere scientist as a first-time mother at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

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Removing a nuclear bile acid receptor that regulates glucose and lipid stability from the intestine blocked gut inflammation in mice, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

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An Indiana University School of Medicine physician scientist is making strides in understanding the molecular origins of fatty liver disease, a leading cause of liver failure in the United States.

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Liver transplant is considered the best treatment for liver cancer, but only available for patients with early-stage disease. Now a study led by Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators has concluded that immunotherapy could make liver transplant an option for patients with later-stage cancer as well.

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Jeanne M. Clark, a board-certified internal medicine physician with extensive research experience and a nationally renowned expert in the epidemiology and treatment of obesity, will join Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as the Henry Rutgers Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that a diet free of the amino acid tryptophan can effectively halt the growth of liver cancer in mice. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, offer new insights for dietary-based cancer treatments and highlight the critical role of the tryptophan metabolite indole 3-pyruvate (I3P) in liver tumor development.

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Researchers at UCLA Health uncovered new information about the role inflammation plays in mitigating liver fibrosis, which is associated with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), one of the most common diseases in the world affecting up to 40 percent of U.S. adults.