CHOP Researchers Discover Underlying Biology Behind Fontan-Associated Liver Disease

As patients with congenital heart diseases live longer, researchers are attempting to understand some of the other complications they may face as they age. In a new study, a team from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) used state-of-the-art technologies to understand the underlying biology of Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD).

The Rising Costs of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease and More in the February Issue of AJG

A modeling study projecting the economic and social burden of alcohol-associated liver disease by 2040 is featured in the February 2024 issue of AJG, just one month after the new ACG Clinical Guideline on Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

UT Southwestern geneticists identify new mechanism for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease absent obesity

Using a genetic screening platform developed by a UT Southwestern Nobel Laureate, scientists with the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified genetic mutations that contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), providing a potential future target for therapeutic interventions.

Transcutaneous Electrical Acustimulation for IBS-C, Infliximab Retreatment for Crohn’s Disease Featured in September Issue of AJG

The September issue of AJG highlights new clinical science, including a potential therapy to improve IBS-C symptoms, reintroduction of infliximab for Crohn’s disease, and population-based data to examine incidence and mortality of certain GI and hepatology diseases.

AASLD Foundation Funds Over $1.5 Million in Hepatology Research and Career Development in 2022

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Foundation, the largest medical society supporter of liver disease research and training in the United States, today announced its combined investment of over $1.5 million in Research and Career Development Awards, Abstract Awards, Emerging Liver Scholars (ELS) Program for medical residents and its new Emerging Liver Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Program.

The 2022 award recipients — selected from a highly competitive applicant pool — demonstrate both exceptional aptitude and deep interest in liver disease research and treatment. Their work will further advance the mission of the AASLD Foundation and hepatology as a medical specialty.

Lactating Mice Pass along Common Antimicrobial to Pups, Initiating Liver Damage

In mouse studies, UC San Diego researchers report that lactating mothers expose their feeding pups to triclosan, an antimicrobial commonly used in consumer products, resulting in early signs of liver damage.

Study: Liver Disease Linked to Higher Risk of Dementia

People who have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a buildup of fat cells in the liver, may have a higher risk of dementia, according to a new study published in the July 13, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers also found that people with this form of liver disease who also have heart disease or who have had a stroke may have an even higher risk of dementia.

Saint Louis University and Industry Partners Discover Treatment for Rare, Genetic Liver Disease

Researchers at Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine, in collaboration with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, report the first effective drug to treat a rare, genetic liver disease that formerly could only be treated with a liver transplant.

Prenatal Exposure to Chemicals in Consumer and Industrial Products Is Associated With Rising Liver Disease in Children

The growing incidence of a potentially cancer-causing liver disease in children is associated with prenatal exposure to several endocrine-disrupting chemicals, Mount Sinai researchers report.

Research Shows Alarming Increases in Deaths from Alcoholic Cirrhosis in the U.S.

Researchers conducted an original research study utilizing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) to compare trends in mortality from alcoholic cirrhosis in the U.S. in 1999 with those 20 years later in 2019.

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation Announces Funding of over $2.8 Million in Research and Career Development Awards, Abstract Awards, and Emerging Liver Scholars Program

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Foundation, the largest private supporter of liver disease research and training in the United States, today announced its combined investment of over $2.8 million in Research and Career Development Awards, Abstract Awards, and its Emerging Liver Scholars (ELS) Program.

World Trade Center Responders with the Greatest Exposure to Toxic Dust Have a Higher Likelihood of Liver Disease

Mount Sinai researchers have found evidence for the first time that World Trade Center responders had a higher likelihood of developing liver disease if they arrived at the site right after the attacks as opposed to working at Ground Zero later in the rescue and recovery efforts. Their study links the increase in liver disease risk to the quantity of toxic dust the workers were exposed to, which was greatest immediately after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

COVID-19 Vaccine Protection Against Infection Lower and Slower in People with Liver Disease

A study shows for the first time that people with cirrhosis who receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccination gain important protection against more serious outcomes like hospitalization and death. At the same time, however, the vaccines offer less protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and take longer to take effect in this population.

Synthetic Biology and Machine Learning Speed the Creation of Lab-Grown Livers

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have combined synthetic biology with a machine learning algorithm to create human liver organoids with blood and bile handling systems. When implanted into mice with failing livers, the lab-grown replacement livers extended life.

High Abdominal Fat and Low Liver Fat Combo Increases Coronary Heart Disease Risk

Data from a new study presented this week at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience® – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – found that the distribution of a person’s body fat affects coronary heart disease risk, with an increased risk of heart events among people with a combination of high visceral adipose tissue (VAT) – abdominal fat─ and low liver fat. The study’s findings indicate that liver triglyceride regulation plays an important role in heart health in people with discordant visceral adipose tissue and liver fat levels.

New Cases of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Disproportionately Affecting Americans in Rural Areas New Study Shows

Data from a new study presented this week at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience® – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – found that the rate of new hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases has slowed since 2009, but only in urban areas. Rural non-Hispanic whites and Blacks have experienced the greatest increases over time when comparing rural and urban HCC trends by specific demographic factors.

Improved Center-Specific Practices May Ease Effects of Socioeconomic Deprivation for Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients

Data from a new study presented this week at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience® – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – found that while neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation is associated with worse adverse long-term outcomes after liver transplant in children, improving center-specific practices can mitigate these effects for young at-risk patients.

Alarming New Study Highlights Need for Improved Access to HBV Vaccination, Testing and Treatment

Data from a new study presented this week at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience® – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – found that in 2019, more than 500,000 persons died of hepatitis B virus infection, highlighting the urgent need for universal HBV vaccination of children beginning at birth, and scaling up testing and access to care and treatment before people with the virus develop life-threatening liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Unique Coagulation Driven by IL-6 Trans-Signaling Associated with Liver Injury in COVID-19

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Data from a new study presented this week at The Liver Meeting Digital Experience® – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – found that COVID-19 coagulation impairment, driven in part by endothelial Factor VIII, is associated with liver injury in infected patients. The study’s findings also show that IL-6 trans-signaling, which may play a role in COVID-19 development, results in prothrombotic liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) that may mediate the liver injury via elevated Factor VIII and activation of coagulation in the liver microvasculature.

New animal model identified to research hepatitis B virus

Squirrel monkeys have been identified as a new animal model to further study and improve therapies for hepatitis B infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Christopher Chen, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Research at the Southwest National Primate Center at Texas Biomed, led the team of scientists who published their findings in Hepatology Communications.

Excessive Fructose Consumption May Cause a Leaky Gut, Leading to Fatty Liver Disease

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that fructose only adversely affects the liver after it reaches the intestines, where the sugar disrupts the epithelial barrier protecting internal organs from bacterial toxins in the gut.

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation Announces Funding of over $2.2 Million in Research and Career Development Awards, Abstract Awards, and Emerging Liver Scholars Program

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Foundation, the largest private supporter of liver disease research and training in the United States, today announced its combined investment of over $2.2 million in Research and Career Development Awards, Abstract Awards, and its Emerging Liver Scholars (ELS) Program.

Researchers Identify Potential Early Biomarker to Track Development of Dangerous Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease not associated with alcohol consumption, which is called Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD, affects more than one billion people worldwide. Even in children the numbers are overwhelming, with up to 80 percent of pediatric patients who are considered obese affected worldwide. People with NAFLD can progress to a severe form known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which puts patients at higher risk for cirrhosis or liver cancer.

AASLD Releases Clinical Insight Guide for Treating Patients with Liver Disease and COVID-19

The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) has released a clinical insight document for clinicians and frontline healthcare providers who are treating patients with liver disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document, which cites recent studies conducted in China, assesses how hepatologists and liver transplant physicians/surgeons and their patients may be affected by the COVID-19 virus (also known as SARS-CoV-2) and provides continued guidance on clinical approaches to disease management.