chronic liver disease tagged posts

Scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and Open Targets together with colleagues from the University of Cambridge, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, U.K., uncovered mechanisms driving regeneration of the liver during chronic liver disease. This regenerative process allows the liver to repair itself when chronically injured but could also result in progression toward cancer.

The researchers were able to demonstrate this first by performing single-cell analyses on many biopsies obtained from patients with progressive metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

The results obtained in vivo were validated using cultured organoids in the laboratory...

A population of liver cells has been found that are better at regenerating liver tissue than hepatocytes. The study is the first to identify these so-called ‘hybrid hepatocytes,’ and show that they are able to regenerate liver tissue without giving rise to cancer.

Of all major organs, the liver has the highest capacity to regenerate – that’s why many liver diseases, including cirrhosis and hepatitis, can often be cured by transplanting a piece of liver from a healthy donor. The liver’s regenerative properties were previously credited to a population of adult stem cells known as oval cells. But recent studies concluded that oval cells don’t give rise to hepatocytes; instead, they develop into bile duct cells...