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发表于 2005-3-29 02:04
Research offers hope of new treatments for liver damage
25 Mar 2005
There is currently no cure for liver cirrhosis and a patient's only hope of
survival is to receive a liver transplant.
The Edinburgh scientists from the University's Centre for Inflammation
Research, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of
Southampton and Cincinnati, Ohio have, for the first time, identified two
separate populations of immune cells --macrophages--in the liver. One group
of macrophages causes scarring to the liver, but the next wave of immune
cells, produced only a few days later, change function to break down and
reabsorb the scarring. These findings, published in the January edition of
Journal of Clinical Investigation, will help doctors to understand the
mechanisms by which the liver is damaged and repaired and may lead to future
treatments.
Researcher Dr Jeremy Duffield explained: "The links between the immune
system, inflammation and scarring in the liver have not been well
understood, and this has hindered progress in finding ways to prevent and
repair liver damage. Now that we have shown how the macrophages work, we aim
to find out how to create, activate and de-activate these cells to make them
repair, rather than damage, liver tissue."
He added: "Cirrhosis, commonly, but not always, caused by alcohol
consumption, can lead to liver failure. At a time when outcomes for other
diseases, such as cancers and heart trouble, have made dramatic gains, liver
damage --described as the new plague of the 21st century --has yet to be
understood and in turn, to become treatable. More women in the UK now die of
liver failure than do of cancer of the cervix.
"There has been a fourfold increase in the number of men aged 45-54 dying of
cirrhosis since 1970 and a threefold increase in women of the same age
group. Liver failure is also rapidly increasing in younger people with the
deaths in the UK of 500 men and 300 women aged 25-44, in 2003."
Professor John Iredale of the University of Southampton said: "We are facing
a huge increase in the numbers of patients with advanced liver fibrosis
(scarring) and cirrhosis (end stage scarring of the liver). Currently, we
have no effective treatment for liver cirrhosis which is associated with
internal bleeding, liver failure and the development of primary liver
cancer. There is a huge imperative to develop new approaches to the
treatment of liver scarring. Exciting insights such as these will inform the
design of future therapies."
Further research into macrophages is set to follow and scientists will
explore the role of these immune-system cells in damage and repair to other
organs, including the kidney.
Contact: Makeda Scott
202-588-6523
British Information Services
http://www.britainusa.com |
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