Mount Sinai discovers new liver cell for cellular therapy to aid in liver regeneration

Liver transplantation is the mainstay of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, but new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published in the online journal Cell Stem Cell today, suggests that it may one day become possible to regenerate a liver using cell therapy in patients with liver disease. Investigators discovered that a human embryonic stem cell can be differentiated into a previously unknown liver progenitor cell, an early offspring of a stem cell, and produce mature and functional liver cells.

Read more

A step closer to artificial livers

Prometheus, the mythological figure who stole fire from the gods, was punished for this theft by being bound to a rock. Each day, an eagle swept down and fed on his liver, which then grew back to be eaten again the next day.

Read more

Probiotics found to reduce hepatic encephalopathy

Amsterdam, The Netherlands,Thursday 25 April 2013: Probiotics could emerge as a treatment plan to manage hepatic encephalopathy (HE) therapy after a new study announced at the International Liver Congress? 2013 found they significantly reduced development of the notoriously difficult-to-treat disease.

Read more

Transplanted genetically-modified adipose cells offer potential therapy for liver diseases

Using mesenchymal stromal cells derived from adipose (fat) tissues, genetically modified to express a bioluminescent marker, researchers in Italy have tracked cells after transplantation. The cells were followed from their injection into the spleen of mice modeling liver disease, to their characterization as “hepatic precursors,” and to their subsequent migration through the spleen before engrafting at regenerating sites in the liver by bioluminescent imaging.

Read more

New drug successfully halts fibrosis in animal model of liver disease

 

A study published in the online journal Hepatology reports a potential new NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor therapy for liver fibrosis, a scarring process associated with chronic liver disease that can lead to loss of liver function.

Read more

Japanese scientists show ‘new’ liver generation using hepatocyte cell transplantation

Researchers in Japan have found that hepatocytes, cells comprising the main tissue of the liver and involved in protein synthesis and storage, can assist in tissue engineering and create a “new liver system” in mouse models when donor mouse liver hepatocytes are isolated and propagated for transplantation. Their study is published in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (21:2/3), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/,

Read more

Adult stem cells take root in livers and repair damage

Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that human liver cells derived from adult cells coaxed into an embryonic state can engraft and begin regenerating liver tissue in mice with chronic liver damage.

Read more

Liver-cell transplants show promise in reversing genetic disease affecting liver and lungs

April 21, 2011 — (Bronx, NY) — Transplanting cells from healthy adult livers may work in treating a genetic liver-lung disorder that affects millions of people worldwide, according to an animal study in the April 18 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury, M.D. , professor of medicine and of genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, is the study’s senior author.

Read more

Scientists grow human liver tissue to be used for transplantation

Experimental human model advances liver cell transplantation

A new study reports on the success of growing human liver cells on resorbable scaffolds made from material similar to surgical sutures. Researchers suggest that this liver tissue could be used in place of donor organs during liver transplantation or during the bridge period until a suitable donor is available for patients with acute liver failure. Findings of this study appear in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Read more

Gene mutation play a major role in 1 cause of kidney disease

Screening may be warranted when the disease runs in families

Mutations in a gene called INF2 are by far the most common cause of a dominantly inherited condition that leads to kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results may help with screening, prevention, and therapy.

Read more

Next Page »