Steatohepatitis/Metabolic Liver Disease News

Pliant Therapeutics raised $62 million in a series B financing to support proof-of-concept clinical trials in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and other fibrotic diseases, according to a press release.

Magnetic resonance elastography had significantly higher diagnostic accuracy in staging fibrosis compared with transient elastography among patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a recently published study.

Liver disease-related mortality rates varied significantly by geographic region in the Untied States with some of the highest rates in the South and the West, in areas with higher Hispanic populations, and areas of lower household income, according to a recently published study.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease costs the United States health care system $32 billion annually, according to results of a study presented at Digestive Disease Week 2018 by the Intermountain Healthcare researchers.

Recent studies of early liver fibrosis and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis have analyzed several noninvasive methods to accurately detect fibrosis, stage fibrosis, and improve survival through early detection. Other studies have taken the next step after detection to determine the safety of certain gastrointestinal procedures in patients with fibrosis and hospitalization outcomes.

Results of a recent study showed that nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was the most rapidly growing cause of hepatocellular carcinoma among U.S. patients listed for liver transplantation.

Elastography point quantification displayed good to excellent performance as a noninvasive measurement of liver fibrosis staging among patients with chronic liver disease, according to a recently published study.

This year at the Digestive Disease Meeting, physicians noted a significant increase in studies focused on the growing obesity epidemic and the gut microbiome as related to gastrointestinal complications. Additionally, the meeting included several presentations on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatment, outcomes in hepatitis C and hepatitis B, early detection of liver cancer, and reviews on recent obesity and gut microbiome studies.

WASHINGTON — In this exclusive video perspective from Digestive Disease Week 2018, Sarah Streett, MD, from the Stanford University Medical Center and outgoing chair of the AGA Practice Management and Economics Committee, reviews obesity-focused data presented at the meeting and obesity’s importance in gastroenterology and hepatology.

Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced topline results from a phase 2b study of Aramchol, a once-daily liver-targeted stearoyl-Coenzyme A desaturase 1 modulator designed for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, according to a press release.