2023-09-29 15:29:27
Progression of fibrosis can lead to liver failure requiring donor organ transplantation. New work by scientists from the University of California at San Diego proves that it is possible to completely restore liver function and avoid serious complications if you treat the problem in two directions.
Liver fibrosis can occur for a number of reasons, including hepatitis, excess alcohol consumption, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and other diseases. For example, NAFLD affects approximately a quarter of the world’s population, and in 20% of cases, these patients develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, characterized by liver inflammation and tissue fibrosis. The widespread problem does not yet have effective treatments and, at an advanced stage, requires a liver transplant. New molecular mechanism presented on the EurekAlert website, demonstrates that this condition is in fact reversible.
Scientists have discovered that healthy liver tissue lacks myofibroblasts, but when the liver is chronically damaged due to any of the above reasons, they are activated. The inflammatory response triggers the activation of liver stellate cells, which change from a resting state to form vitamin A-storing myofibroblasts, ultimately leading to tissue scarring.
“The lack of effective treatments for fibrosis is due to scientists’ focus on individual causes. A new therapeutic approach is aimed at the causes of impaired myofibroblast formation, as well as the source of liver damage (viral infection, alcohol, etc.). Thanks to this, stellate cells can return to their natural state, and fibrosis will disappear,” said co-author David Brenner.
The preclinical research stage is currently ongoing. Now the scientists must prove that their proposed therapeutic strategy effectively treats fibrosis in laboratory animals.
Meanwhile, another team studied already available methods to prevent the progression of fibrosis and discovered the benefits of diet: foods contained in the Japanese diet were highly effective in reducing the negative effects of fibrosis.
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