Skip to main content

Liver fibrosis can be detected through blood test: new study ()downtoearth,

Doctors have long been using biopsy to diagnose liver fibrosis. A new study says it may be possible to diagnose the liver disease with a blood test in future.

Researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, working in collaboration with Justus Liebig University in Germany, have identified diagnostic markers for liver fibrosis. With these markers, it will be possible to diagnose liver fibrosis from blood samples. It will make diagnosis easier to perform, non-invasive, and less prone to sampling errors, researchers say in their study published in journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology.

The new study has reported that patients of liver fibrosis have elevated levels of two proteins—Cathepsin L and Cathepsin B—in liver tissues as well as blood plasma, compared to healthy people. The increased levels of these two proteins open the possibility of designing a new and better diagnosis for liver disease. There is progressive increase in concentrations of the two proteins with advancement in the stages of liver cirrhosis, making them potential diagnostic tools.

The observation was first made in animals and then humans. It was seen that the two proteins are elevated in kidney, heart, and lung fibrosis, which led to the idea of testing their diagnostic relevance in liver disorder. Since the findings are based on blood samples from 51 patients, researchers have recommended studies involving larger group of patients to further validate their work.

However, an expert working in the same field pointed out that “previous studies have also reported biomarkers for liver fibrosis. The challenge is to find a marker that can differentiate between mild and severe stages of the disease in addition to distinguishing between healthy and severely ill conditions.”

Liver fibrosis is caused by several factors including alcohol consumption, viral infection, and metabolic disorders. It is also congenital in some cases. It is marked by the formation of scars and nodules in the liver, which is due to accumulation of specific proteins.

The study team included Mansi Manchanda, Prasenjit Das, Gaurav Gahlot, Ratnakar Singh, Elke Roeb, Martin Roderfeld, Siddhartha Datta Gupta, Anoop Saraya, R M Pandey and Shyam S Chauhan.(India Science Wire)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NGT terminates chairmen of pollution control boards in 10 states (downtoearth,)

Cracking the whip on 10 State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) for ad-hoc appointments, the National Green Tribunal has ordered the termination of Chairpersons of these regulatory authorities. The concerned states are Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and Manipur. The order was given last week by the principal bench of the NGT, chaired by Justice Swatanter Kumar. The recent order of June 8, 2017, comes as a follow-up to an NGT judgment given in August 2016. In that judgment, the NGT had issued directions on appointments of Chairmen and Member Secretaries of the SPCBs, emphasising on crucial roles they have in pollution control and abatement. It then specified required qualifications as well as tenure of the authorities. States were required to act on the orders within three months and frame Rules for appointment [See Box: Highlights of the NGT judgment of 2016 on criteria for SPCB chairperson appointment]. Having

High dose of Vitamin C and B3 can kill colon cancer cells: study (downtoearth)

In a first, a team of researchers has found that high doses of Vitamin C and niacin or Vitamin B3 can kill cancer stem cells. A study published in Cell Biology International showed the opposing effects of low and high dose of vitamin C and vitamin B3 on colon cancer stem cells. Led by Bipasha Bose and Sudheer Shenoy, the team found that while low doses (5-25 micromolar) of Vitamin C and B3 proliferate colon cancer stem cells, high doses (100 to 1,000 micromolar) killed cancer stem cells. Such high doses of vitamins can only be achieved through intravenous injections in colon cancer patients. The third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, colon cancer can be prevented by an intake of dietary fibre and lifestyle changes. While the next step of the researchers is to delineate the mechanisms involved in such opposing effects, they also hope to establish a therapeutic dose of Vitamin C and B3 for colon cancer stem cell therapy. “If the therapeutic dose gets validated under in vivo

SC asks Centre to strike a balance on Rohingya issue (.hindu)

Supreme Court orally indicates that the government should not deport Rohingya “now” as the Centre prevails over it to not record any such views in its formal order, citing “international ramifications”. The Supreme Court on Friday came close to ordering the government not to deport the Rohingya. It finally settled on merely observing that a balance should be struck between humanitarian concern for the community and the country's national security and economic interests. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions, one filed by persons within the Rohingya community, against a proposed move to deport over 40,000 Rohingya refugees. A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, began by orally indicating that the government should not deport Rohingya “now”, but the government prevailed on the court to not pass any formal order, citing “international ramifications”. With this, the status quo continues even though the court gave the community liberty to approach i