Analysis tackles liver transplant failure

The re-infection of transplanted livers with hepatitis Chemical virus (HCV) – which can irreparably damage the new organ – could be halted by administering a medication which blocks the virus entering the liver, research from the University of Birmingham being presented at the Liver Meeting demonstrates. People who receive a new liver to replace their own organ previously broken by HCV infection are 95 per cent likely to experience recurrent irritation after the transplant, where virus amounts can surpass the pre-transplant amounts within a few days. Importantly, viral duplication and ensuing injury can be a lot more aggressive after the transplantation. This often means the new liver becomes damaged, and also to a level at which it can cease to work in just a few years. As many as a quarter of HCV infected patients who get a transplant will experience liver failing, possibly leading to death, within ten years. Until now, doctors have been unable to prevent HCV, which usually circulates in the bloodstream, from getting into the new liver – however comes from a trial at Birmingham evaluating a HCV entry inhibitor drug, ITX5061, given before, during and after the transplant dramatically slows down the improvement of the virus re-infecting the liver. Although the drug did not clear HCV completely from the blood of the patients, the results of this research suggest that it could be used as a treatment in conjunction with a lot more convent...
Source: My Irritable Bowel Syndrome Story - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: IBS News Source Type: blogs