Shropshire Star

Drug could reduce need for liver transplants

Acute liver failure occurs when a healthy liver is so seriously damaged it can no longer regrow and recover.

Published
Microscope

A new liver treatment could reduce the need for transplants, scientists have found.

A study using mice found liver injury triggers a process called senescence, which is usually associated with aging or chronic disease.

Using a class of drugs being developed as anti-cancer therapy to block the spread of this process, researchers found the organ was able to regenerate after treatment, preventing death from liver injury.

Teams at the University of Edinburgh MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine and the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow said further research is now needed to explore the potential of the new drugs on human patients with liver failure.

Acute liver failure occurs when a healthy liver is so seriously damaged it can no longer regrow and recover, leaving patients in urgent need of transplant.

Paracetamol overdose is the most common cause, with around 200 life-threatening cases in the UK each year.

Often the damaged liver can regrow and recover on its own, but when it suffers massive injury, regeneration may fail and even 24 hours without a fully working liver can be life-threatening.

Liver specialist Dr Tom Bird, who led the study, said: “Through our research so far we have identified a potential treatment for acute liver failure, which may prevent the need for transplant.

Paracetamol tablets
Paracetamol overdose is the most common cause (Joe Giddens/PA)

“Most of the patients we see with this type of critical liver injury are otherwise physically healthy, and have accidentally or, often, sadly, intentionally taken an overdose of paracetamol.

“While transplant offers incredible life-saving opportunities for these patients, it does mean a major operation and a lifetime of medication and with around 300 adults and children in the UK in need of a liver transplant at any one time, it cannot be guaranteed.

“New treatments like this which set liver regeneration free and may prevent the need for liver transplants would make a huge difference for these patients.

“They may also allow us to use the livers available for transplantation for other patients with different forms of liver disease who might otherwise die whilst waiting for a suitable liver donor.”

The study is published in Science Translational Medicine.

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