http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress) -- Liver cell carcinoma is one of the most abundant malign cancer diseases worldwide. In the majority of cases its emergence is triggered by cirrhosis of the liver which is caused by chronic Hepatitis B or C virus infections. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Hanover Medical School have now revealed how a healthy and potent immune system is able to detect and kill potentially premalignant liver cells at an early stage. Cells with a high risk of degenerating into tumor cells – e.g.  as a result of chemical stress or nuclear radiation – often abandon their normal life cycle and enter a state of arrest, designated as “senescence”. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-body-surveillance-cancer.html Medical research Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:50:47 EST news240079837 Cartilage, bone, and skin can already be regenerated in vitro, and these tissues are currently available for clinical applications. However, regeneration of more complex tissues such as the liver and pancreas has yet to be fully realized. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-possibilities.html Medical research Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:56:30 EST news239280984 For the first time, scientists have cleanly corrected a human gene mutation in a patient's stem cells. The result, reported in Nature on Wednesday 12 October, brings the possibility of patient-specific therapies closer to becoming a reality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-therapy-methods-accurately-mutation.html Genetics Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:00:20 EST news237637269 (Medical Xpress) -- Fully mature liver cells from laboratory mice have been transformed directly into functional neurons by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The switch was accomplished with the introduction of just three genes and did not require the cells to first enter a pluripotent state. It is the first time that cells have been shown to leapfrog from one fundamentally different tissue type to another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-scientists-liver-cells-neurons-technique.html Medical research Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:54:14 EST news237189231 Our livers can fight back against the immune system -- reducing organ rejection but also making us more susceptible to liver disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-liver-killer-cells.html Medical research Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:01:42 EST news235663222 Despite the fact that hepatitis C virus (HCV) persists chronically in about 80 percent of those infected, some liver cells remain free of the virus even after many years. Now Sung Key Jang of Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, et al. explain that paradox. During chronic HCV infection, a cellular protein, HMGB1, helps restrain viral reproduction. That prevents HCV from sweeping the liver, and results in a lower blood burden of virus than in the case of hepatitis B. This first description of HMGB1-related responses triggered by HCV infection is published in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Virology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-danger-limits-hepatitis-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:42:04 EST news235644064 New research from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) may help prevent damage to the liver caused by drugs like acetaminophen and other stressors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-key-protein-linked-acute.html Medical research Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:37:45 EST news234628650 Babies of mothers with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) are fatter and have more fat in their liver, a study published in September's issue of the journal Pediatric Research has found. The researchers from Imperial College London say that the effect of a mother's BMI on her child's development in the womb might put them on a trajectory towards lifelong metabolic health problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mother-bmi-linked-fatter-babies.html Health Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:26:37 EST news232971984 Malaria is a devastating disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Hundreds of millions of new cases of malaria are reported each year, and there are more than 750,000 malaria-related deaths annually. As a result, there is an urgent need for vaccines to combat infection. Now, a new study uncovers a powerful strategy for eliciting an immune response that can combat the parasite during multiple stages of its complex life cycle and describes what may be the most effective next-generation vaccination approach for malaria. The research will be published online on June 15 by Cell Press in the journal Cell Host and Microbe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-malaria-vaccination-strategy-superior.html Medical research Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:29:51 EST news227359751 (Medical Xpress) -- Our liver could be a major springboard for determining life-changing diabetes diagnosis and treatment thanks to a world-first discovery by an Australian-Chinese research team. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-liver-key-diabetes.html Medical research Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:40:01 EST news227335903 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists from the Departments of Biology & Biochemistry and Pharmacy & Pharmacology have discovered a new way to create precursor liver cells from stem cells, with the potential to impact on the testing of new medicines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-precursor-liver-cells-stem.html Medical research Wed, 08 Jun 2011 09:37:28 EST news226744626 (Medical Xpress) -- New insights into the biological mechanisms that contribute to acute liver failure could help scientists better understand—and eventually treat—a broader spectrum of liver diseases, according to University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-cellular-aid-drug-therapies-acute.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:32:55 EST news226297956 An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital in China, say a human gene implicated in the development of leukemia also acts to prevent cancer of the liver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-gene-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 16 May 2011 16:18:42 EST news224781492 A uniquely collaborative study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies uncovered a novel mechanism that turns up glucose production in the liver when blood sugar levels drop, pointing towards a new class of drugs for the treatment of metabolic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-fasting-pathway-class-diabetes-drugs.html Medical research Thu, 12 May 2011 12:25:32 EST news224421912 An antioxidant may prevent damage to the liver caused by excessive alcohol, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The findings, published online April 21, 2011, in the journal Hepatology, may point the way to treatments to reverse steatosis, or fatty deposits in the liver that can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-antioxidant-alcohol-induced-liver-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 02 May 2011 17:10:31 EST news223575004