TACKLING LIVER INJURY WITH NEW DRUG
A new drug spurs liver
regeneration after surgery, according to a paper published in The Journal of Experimental
Medicine.
Liver
cancer often results in a loss of blood flow and thus oxygen and nutrients to
the liver tissue, resulting in deteriorating liver function. Although the
diseased part of the liver can often be surgically removed, the sudden
restoration of blood flow to the remaining liver tissue can trigger
inflammation -- a process known as ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). IRI
results in part from the deposition of immune proteins called complement on the
surface of liver cells, causing them to die and thus impairing liver
regeneration.
Complement
inhibitors effectively dampen IRI, but the benefits of this approach come at a
cost, as certain complement proteins are also required for liver tissue to
regrow. A group of scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina now
show that a novel complement inhibitor reduces complement-mediated liver cell
death and actually stimulates post-surgery liver regrowth in mice. The novel
inhibitor limited the deposition of complement proteins and promoted the
division of new liver cells. Even after removal of as much as 90% of the liver,
treatment increased survival from 0% in untreated animals to an impressive 70%.
The
selectivity of this novel complement inhibitor, and its unexpected ability to
promote liver regeneration, suggests that it might represent a new treatment
strategy for a variety of liver injuries in humans.
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