Nanoparticles for Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Treatment
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Table of Contents
The Scope of Liver Disease
Across the world, more than 1.5 billion people suffer from chronic liver disease. The U.S. Centers for disease Control and Prevention reports that it kills more than 52,000 people a year in the United States alone – the ninth most common cause of death in the nation.
Despite this significant impact on society, alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) remains largely unaddressed by medical research. Texas A&M University researcher Dr. Jyothi Menon aims to change that with a promising new therapy that she’s developing. Her findings were recently published in Biomaterials.
Liver diseases are rapidly increasing around the world, and there’s a significant risk of them slowly progressing to more hazardous conditions like cancer. Being able to use our technologies to develop effective solutions against this progression is what’s driving me and driving this research.
Dr. Jyothi Menon, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University
How the Nanoparticle Therapy Works
While current treatments for ARLD focus on alcohol cessation and anti-inflammatory medications, Menon and her collaborators at the University of Rhode island are taking a much more focused approach. They have developed microscopic nanoparticles that are a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. These safe and biodegradable nanoparticles can seek out and attach to damaged liver cells. By binding to the cells, the nanoparticles help stop them from fueling disease progression.
The liver’s Natural Healing Process and How It Goes Wrong
In healthy humans, the liver is a naturally self-healing organ, capable of regenerating most of its function even when 70% to 80% has been damaged. A key part of this healing process involves immune cells called Kupffer cells that protect the liver from infection and harmful substances. In a healthy liver, they also produce proteins that promote an anti-inflammatory response in other liver cells.
In chronic liver conditions, when liver damage progresses and repetitive injury occurs, the organ’s self-repairing functions also become damaged. Then, the liver unintentionally begins harming itself. The kupffer cells, wich previously fought inflammation, start releasing protein signals with the opposite effect – increasing inflammation and encouraging other liver cells to form scar tissue in a process called fibrosis.
The result is life-threatening organ dysfunction and even fatal liver cancer.
understanding Liver Fibrosis
Fibrosis is the formation of excessive connective tissue in an organ, frequently enough as a response to injury. In the liver, this scar tissue replaces healthy liver cells, impairing its function. The progression of fibrosis can lead to cirrhosis