The best treatment currently available for cirrhosis is a liver
transplant, but research into the inner workings of cells may
reveal a way to reverse scarring of the liver.
Newly released research with mice suggests a drug-based strategy
could reprogram cells and make it "feasible to treat it [cirrhosis]
and prevent it without a transplant," said study lead author
Martina Buck, an assistant professor of medicine at the University
of California, San Diego.
Buck said there is no guarantee the treatment will work in
humans, and the new procedure could take at least five to 10 years
for a drug to reach the market if a pharmaceutical company became
interested in pursuing it.
But the research might also lead to new treatments for other
conditions that lead to excess tissue scarring, such as viral
hepatitis, fatty liver disease, pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and
burns, the study authors said.
At issue is scarring in the liver, an organ that filters out
toxins and breaks down medications. The scarring is a "natural
healing process," Buck said, but overuse of alcohol and diseases
like hepatitis can make the scarring become chronic and lead to
major health problems such as cancer.
Buck and her colleagues focused on liver cells that transform
into scar tissue when activated. They used mice with severe liver
fibrosis that was brought about by chronic exposure to a toxin
known to cause liver damage. Next, they genetically engineered mice
to activate a protein that provides protection against
scarring.
The researchers found that the protein seemed to protect the
mice from scarring, and "if you wait until [a mouse] has cirrhosis
before you treat him, he will actually regress. It's not just a
preventive thing. It's an actual treatment," Buck said.
The study was published Dec. 26 in the journal Public Library of
Science Online.
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(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2007)