Search results for "LIVER DISEASES"
showing 10 items of 223 documents
Pig liver gene therapy by noninvasive interventionist catheterism
2006
The efficacy of noninvasive interventionist catheterism in large animals as an alternative to the hydrodynamic procedure, described for small animals, is evaluated. Basically, gene transfer is performed by implantation and fixation of a balloon catheter within the suprahepatic vein of anesthetized pigs, through the femoral vein. The catheter tip is identified by fluoroscopy, injecting a contrast solution that marks large or small hepatic territories. Animals were injected with a 100 ml pTG7101 plasmid solution (40 microg/ml), which contains the human alpha-1 antitrypsin gene, perfused at a rate of 7.5 ml/s and efficacy and toxicity of the procedure were evaluated. The results show: (i) the …
Osteodystrophy in chronic liver diseases
2013
Osteoporosis and osteomalacia are, to date, among the most common metabolic diseases in the world. Lately, an association between metabolic bone diseases and chronic liver disease has been increasingly reported, inducing many authors to create a new nosographic entity known as 'hepatic osteodystrophy.' The importance of such a condition is further increased by the morbidity of these two diseases, which greatly reduce the quality of life because of frequent fractures, especially vertebral and femoral neck ones. For this reason, early identification of high-risk patients should be routinely performed by measuring bone mass density. The explanation for the association between bone diseases and…
HAV infection in chronic liver disease: a rationale for vaccination.
2003
We report the conduct and results of a systematic search of the literature to assess whether exposure to HAV could induce a fatal deterioration of liver diseases. We assessed 30 studies and found evidence of progressive decrease of natural immunity against HAV in Italy. HAV vaccine seems as safe in chronic liver diseases than in general population. On the basis of the evidence we recommend that subjects with chronic liver disease should be vaccinated against HAV, especially if younger than 40 years.
Pentoxifylline in liver ischemia and reperfusion.
2013
Pentoxifylline is a methylxanthine compound which was first filed in 1973 and registered in 1974 in the United States by Sanofi-Aventis Deustchland Gmbh for the treatment of intermittent claudication for chronic occlusive arterial disease. This methylxanthine was later discovered to be a phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Furthermore, its hemorheological properties and its function as an inhibitor of inflammatory cytokines, like TNF- α, allowed researchers to study its effects in organ ischemia and reperfusion and transplantation. Although this drug has demonstrated beneficial effects, the mechanisms by which Pentoxifylline exerts a protective effect are not fully understood. This paper focuses o…
Enhanced in vivo targeting of murine nonparenchymal liver cells with monophosphoryl lipid A functionalized microcapsules.
2014
A broad spectrum of infectious liver diseases emphasizes the need of microparticles for targeted delivery of immunomodulatory substances to the liver. Microcapsules (MCs) are particularly attractive for innovative drug and vaccine formulations, enabling the combination of antigen, drugs, and adjuvants. The present study aimed to develop microcapsules characterized by an enhanced liver deposition and accelerated uptake by nonparenchymal liver cells (NPCs). Initially, two formulations of biodegradable microcapsules were synthesized from either hydroxyethyl starch (HES) or mannose. Notably, HES-MCs accumulated primarily in the liver, while mannose particles displayed a lung preference. Functio…
Apoptosis in liver disease.
2006
The description of the morphological hallmarks of programmed cell death, apoptosis, in 1972 by Kerr, Wyllie and Currie started a field of research that revolutionized our understanding of cellular proliferation, tissue homeostasis and pathophysiology of many diseases. In the following years, a series of proteins involved in signaling and intracellular death pathways were identified and 30 years later the Noble Prize for physiology and medicine was awarded to S. Brenner, H. R. Horvitz and J. E. Sulston for their discoveries related to describing the mechanisms of cell death (apoptosis). The delineation of the signaling pathways that mediate apoptosis changed the paradigms of understanding in…
Targeting Mitochondria: A New Promising Approach for the Treatment of Liver Diseases
2010
Mitochondrial dysfunction acts as a common pathogenetic mechanism in several acute and chronic liver diseases, such as Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), drug-induced steatohepatitis, viral hepatitis, biliary cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, ischemia/reperfusion injury and transplant rejection. In particular mitochondrial uncoupling has been recently identified to play a determinant role in the pathogenesis of liver diseases by causing decrease of mitochondrial proton motive force and ATP depletion. Damaged mitochondria present defects in lipid homeostasis, bioenergetics impairment and overproduction of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), leading to lipid accumulation a…
Differential Roles of JNK in ConA/GalN and ConA-Induced Liver Injury in Mice
2008
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-mediated liver injury can be induced by several different means; however, the signaling events and mechanisms of cell death are likely different. We investigated the mechanism of both apoptotic and necrotic hepatocyte cell death as well as the role of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) in the ConA and ConA/D-galactosamine (GalN) models of murine liver injury. ConA alone induced primarily necrotic cell death with no caspase activation, whereas ConA/GalN induced apoptosis in addition to necrotic cell death. The bi-modal death pattern in the ConA/GalN model was confirmed by the use of transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative form of Fas-associated death domain in…
Apoptosis in liver disease
2001
A variety of biological functions are regulated through extracellular signals. Amongst the best studied examples is growth control, which is achieved by the regulatory function of growth factors. In recent years it has become apparent that cell death (apoptosis) is controlled in a similar fashion. Apoptosis, firstly a morphologically defined process, is a highly controlled type of cell death that plays a critical role in embryonic development, deletion of autoreactive T-cells and adult tissue homoeostasis. There is increasing evidence that derangement of the apoptotic program is the underlying cause of a series of diseases including liver diseases. The deadly program can be initiated by lig…
The role of PNI to predict survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with Sorafenib
2020
Background and aims The present study aims to investigate the role of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) on survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with sorafenib. Methods This multicentric study included a training cohort of 194 HCC patients and three external validation cohorts of 129, 76 and 265 HCC patients treated with Sorafenib, respectively. The PNI was calculated as follows: 10 × serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count (per mm3). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the association between the covariates and the overall survival (OS). Results A PNI cut-off value of 31.3 was established using the ROC an…