Liver Injury/Regeneration News

The American College of Gastroenterology released a new clinical guideline for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of hereditary hemochromatosis, a genetic disease that alters the body’s ability to regulate iron absorption and one of the most common genetic disorders among people of northern European descent.

The FDA approved a supplemental new drug application to expand the use of Doptelet to include the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who had an insufficient response to a previous treatment, according to a press release.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation has granted $3.42 million in research and career development awards to 29 researchers and clinicians to conduct liver disease research and undergo advanced hepatology training.

Humans have enjoyed the intoxicating effects of alcohol as early as the Neolithic period around 10,000 BC. Unfortunately, research also suggests that the development of liver injury and disease related to alcohol use has existed almost as far back as the discovery of fermented beverages. Today, rates of problematic drinking, alcohol-related liver disease, and the subsequent outcomes of liver transplantation or mortality continue to rise both in the U.S. and globally.

Treating alcohol-related liver disease doesn’t start or stop with the liver. When I talk to my patients with alcohol use disorder, I tell them that dependence and addiction are true medical disorders. I can’t ask them to go home and stop drinking any better than I can tell someone to heal diabetes with concentration. These patients need help identifying their problematic drinking or alcohol use disorder, without stigma, as much as they need to know about their risks for liver disease. This opening conversation is vital.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals submitted a clinical trial authorization application to the Swedish Medical Products Agency to conduct a phase 1/2 study of DCR-A1AT for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-related liver disease, according to a press release.

The FDA granted fast track designation to ARO-AAT, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ second generation subcutaneously administered RNA interference therapeutic, for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-related liver disease, according to a press release.

Researchers found that excess liver iron was most likely a systemic problem related to genes rather than an organ-related problem, according to a presentation at this year’s conference of the European Society of Human Genetics.

Reduction of tricuspid regurgitation by transcatheter tricuspid edge-to-edge valve repair improved liver function and did not harm kidney function, according to data presented at EuroPCR.

Treatment with Somatuline Depot for 120 weeks reduced the growth of liver and combined liver and kidney volume in patients with polycystic liver disease due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, according to results of a randomized control trial.