New insights could improve treatment of liver fibrosis

Repeated or chronic liver injury, for example by viral hepatitis or alcohol consumption, triggers a complicated molecular process of scaring called liver fibrosis. Researchers at CeMM and MedUni Vienna have now succeeded in better understanding this process in a new study by examining gene activities at various stages of the liver disease. Their findings could contribute to a first-time therapy for fibrosis. The liver is not only the largest internal organ but also vital for human life as a metabolic center. It also possesses remarkable self-healing powers: even when large portions are removed, such as during surgery, they quickly regenerate in healthy individuals. However, in cases of repeated or chronic injury to the liver tissue, as caused by excessive alcohol consumption or viral hepatitis, this regenerative capacity fails. Scarring occurs, known as fibrosis, where liver cells are replaced by fibrous tissue.