News & Updates

A hepatitis C virus (HCV) micro-elimination programme targeting high-risk groups can enhance the effectiveness of screening and significantly shorten the time to starting direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy without compromising treatment outcomes, researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have reported.

Higher intake of alcohol and reduced care during the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a spike in alcohol-related liver diseases, leading to some serious consequences, according to new research.

Namodenoson, an A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) agonist, shows clinical activity against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with or without nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), according to data from a phase II study.

In patients with early-stage alcohol-related liver disease, transient elastography (TE), the enhanced liver fibrosis test (ELF), and 2-dimensional shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) can reliably predict the risk of symptomatic liver events, a recent study has found.

Overweight or obesity during pregnancy increases the risk of future nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the offspring, a recent Sweden study has found.

The novel CRAFITY score—which takes into account C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha-foetoprotein (AFP), and immunotherapy—can be used to reliably assess survival and radiological response in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a recent study has found. Future validation is needed before CRAFITY can be deployed to the clinics.

Exposure to environmental contaminants, particularly perfluorinated alkyl substances, seems to disrupt bile acid and lipid metabolism, both key hepatic metabolic pathways that are known to be dysregulated in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a recent study has found. Such an effect seems to be more pronounced in women.

The consumption of fructose from fruit juice and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs), but not from fruit, is associated with higher intrahepatic lipid (IHL) content, according to data from a cross-sectional study presented at EASD 2021.

Recent research has found that mutations in the human EZH2 and CCND1 genes may be potential novel biomarkers for liver cancer. The tumour mutation burden (TMB) also appears to be an important prognostic factor and affects patient survival.