Search results for "Fibrosis"

2019

Background/aims Skeletal muscle injuries are the most common type of injury occurring in sports, and investigating skeletal muscle regeneration as well as understanding the related processes is an important aspect of the sports medicine field. The process of regeneration appears to be complex and precisely orchestrated, involving fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) which are a muscle-resident stem cell population that appears to play a major role in abnormal development of fibrotic tissue or intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT). Our present study aims to investigate whether muscle resting or endurance exercise following muscle injury may change the behavior of FAPs and subsequently impact th…

Decreased Fibrogenesis After Treatment with Pirfenidone in a Newly Developed Mouse Model of Intestinal Fibrosis

2016

BACKGROUND Fibrosis as a common problem in patients with Crohn's disease is a result of an imbalance toward excessive tissue repair. At present, there is no specific treatment option. Pirfenidone is approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with both antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects. We subsequently investigated the impact of pirfenidone treatment on development of fibrosis in a new mouse model of intestinal fibrosis. METHODS Small bowel resections from donor mice were transplanted subcutaneously into the neck of recipients. Animals received either pirfenidone (100 mg/kg, three times daily, orally) or vehicle. RESULTS After administration of pirfenidone, a signif…

Protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 3B gene variation protects against hepatic fat accumulation and fibrosis in individuals at high risk of nona…

2018

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major cause of liver damage and has a strong genetic component. The rs4841132 G>A variant, modulating the expression of protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 3B (PPP1R3B), which is involved in glycogen synthesis, has been reported to reduce the risk of NAFLD but at the same time may favor liver disease by facilitating glycogen accumulation. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of rs4841132 on development of histologic steatosis and fibrosis in 1,388 European individuals in a liver biopsy cohort, on NAFLD hepatocellular carcinoma in a cross-sectional Italian cohort (n = 132 cases), and on liver disease at the population level in the …

Transient elastography for screening of liver fibrosis: cost-effectiveness analysis from six prospective cohorts in Europe and Asia

2019

Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease pose an important challenge to current clinical healthcare pathways because of the large number of at-risk patients. Therefore, we aimed to explore the cost-effectiveness of transient elastography (TE) as a screening method to detect liver fibrosis in a primary care pathway. Methods: Cost-effectiveness analysis was performed using real-life individual patient data from 6 independent prospective cohorts (5 from Europe and 1 from Asia). A diagnostic algorithm with conditional inference trees was developed to explore the relationships between liver stiffness, socio-demographics, comorbidities, and hepati…

2017

Background Many physiological and/or pathological conditions lead to muscle deconditioning, a well-described phenomenon characterized by a loss of strength and muscle power mainly due to the loss of muscle mass. Fatty infiltrations, or intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT), are currently well-recognized components of muscle deconditioning. Despite the fact that IMAT is present in healthy human skeletal muscle, its increase and accumulation are linked to muscle dysfunction. Although IMAT development has been largely attributable to inactivity, the precise mechanisms of its establishment are still poorly understood. Because the sedentary lifestyle that accompanies age-related sarcopenia may fav…

EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on non-invasive tests for evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis – 2021 update

2021

Summary Non-invasive tests are increasingly being used to improve the diagnosis and prognostication of chronic liver diseases across aetiologies. Herein, we provide the latest update to the EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on the use of non-invasive tests for the evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis, focusing on the topics for which relevant evidence has been published in the last 5 years.

Association of Non-Invasive Markers of Liver Fibrosis with HCV Coinfection and Antiretroviral Therapy in Patients with HIV

2019

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the main effects and interaction between viral hepatitis C (HCV) coinfection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) by using a nonparametric ANOVA on direct and indirect markers of liver fibrosis in HIV-infected patients. The sample included 178 HIV patients aged from 23 to 65 (36% females). The following parameters were determined in blood of patients: hyaluronic acid, pro-matrix metalloproteinase-1, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and platelet count. The FIB-4 index was also calculated. The nonparametric ANOVA revealed no significant interaction between HCV coinfection and ART. This provides evidence for an independent contribut…

The TRPA1 Channel in the Cardiovascular System: Promising Features and Challenges.

2019

The transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel is a calcium-permeable nonselective cation channel in the plasma membrane that belongs to the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel superfamily. Recent studies have suggested that the TRPA1 channel plays an essential role in the development and progression of several cardiovascular conditions, such as atherosclerosis, heart failure, myocardial ischemia–reperfusion injury, myocardial fibrosis, arrhythmia, vasodilation, and hypertension. Activation of the TRPA1 channel has a protective effect against the development of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, TRPA1 channel activation elicits peripheral vasodilation and induces a biphasic bl…

Beyond the Paradigm of Weight Loss in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: From Pathophysiology to Novel Dietary Approaches

2021

Current treatment recommendations for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rely heavily on lifestyle interventions. The Mediterranean diet and physical activity, aiming at weight loss, have shown good results in achieving an improvement of this liver disease. However, concerns related to compliance and food accessibility limit the feasibility of this approach, and data on the long-term effects on liver-related outcomes are lacking. Insulin resistance is a central aspect in the pathophysiology of NAFLD; therefore, interventions aiming at the improvement of insulin sensitivity may be preferable. In this literature review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the available evidence on nu…

Do genetic polymorphisms in angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) gene play a role in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?

2020

Abstract Although some demographic, clinical and environmental factors have been associated with a higher risk of developing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and progressing towards severe disease, altogether these variables do not completely account for the different clinical presentations observed in patients with comparable baseline risk, whereby some subjects may remain totally asymptomatic, whilst others develop a very aggressive illness. Some predisposing genetic backgrounds can hence potentially explain the broad inter-individual variation of disease susceptibility and/or severity. It has been now clearly established that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2…