Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Research could improve detection of liver damage

The team used paracetamol as the basis for the study: research indicates that paracetamol can place temporary stress on the liver in around a third of people who take a normal dose (4g per day) but the liver returns to normal when the drug has left the system. Overdoses of the drug are a major cause of liver failure in both the UK and US.

Scientists have discovered that the presence of specific proteins in the blood are indicative of early liver cell damage and can determine the point at which cell death occurred, the type of cell death, and the extent of any damage. This could lead to liver damage being assessed faster and more accurately in the future – information which could prove valuable when treating people following drug overdoses.

The current blood test used by clinicians to assess liver function simply indicates whether liver enzymes leaking from dying cells can be detected in the blood. The test is not always reliable because positive results are often, but not always, an indicator of serious underlying liver problems.

Scientists induced a mild paracetamol overdose in mice and discovered that proteins released by cells in the liver – HMGB1 and keratin 18 – provided a detailed picture of the level of cell damage. The release of HMGB1 was associated with necrosis – a process in which a cell bursts and dies – while the release of different types of keratin 18 was associated with both apoptosis – a process of normal cell renewal – and necrosis. This latter combination of both types of cell death is significantly less traumatic for the liver than necrosis alone in paracetamol overdose.

Pharmacologist, Dr Dominic Williams, from the University's Medical Research Council Centre for Drug Safety Science, said: "The findings are significant because knowing how the cells die will allow development of medicines to help them survive, and may also distinguish patients who have severe injury and require intensive care from those who have mild injury.

"The research has implications for determining how much stress has been placed on the liver in patients who are worried about an accidental overdose, as well as the more serious overdose cases."

The research is published in Molecular Medicine.

Kate Spark | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.liv.ac.uk

Im Focus: Overdosing on Calcium

Nano crystals impact stem cell fate during bone formation

Scientists from the University of Freiburg and the University of Basel identified a master regulator for bone regeneration. Prasad Shastri, Professor of...

Im Focus: AchemAsia 2019 will take place in Shanghai

Moving into its fourth decade, AchemAsia is setting out for new horizons: The International Expo and Innovation Forum for Sustainable Chemical Production will take place from 21-23 May 2019 in Shanghai, China. With an updated event profile, the eleventh edition focusses on topics that are especially relevant for the Chinese process industry, putting a strong emphasis on sustainability and innovation.

Founded in 1989 as a spin-off of ACHEMA to cater to the needs of China’s then developing industry, AchemAsia has since grown into a platform where the latest...

Im Focus: First real-time test of Li-Fi utilization for the industrial Internet of Things

The BMBF-funded OWICELLS project was successfully completed with a final presentation at the BMW plant in Munich. The presentation demonstrated a Li-Fi communication with a mobile robot, while the robot carried out usual production processes (welding, moving and testing parts) in a 5x5m² production cell. The robust, optical wireless transmission is based on spatial diversity; in other words, data is sent and received simultaneously by several LEDs and several photodiodes. The system can transmit data at more than 100 Mbit/s and five milliseconds latency.

Modern production technologies in the automobile industry must become more flexible in order to fulfil individual customer requirements.

Im Focus: Sharp images with flexible fibers

An international team of scientists has discovered a new way to transfer image information through multimodal fibers with almost no distortion - even if the fiber is bent. The results of the study, to which scientist from the Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology Jena (Leibniz IPHT) contributed, were published on 6thJune in the highly-cited journal Physical Review Letters.

Endoscopes allow doctors to see into a patient’s body like through a keyhole. Typically, the images are transmitted via a bundle of several hundreds of optical...

Im Focus: Photoexcited graphene puzzle solved

A boost for graphene-based light detectors

Light detection and control lies at the heart of many modern device applications, such as smartphone cameras. Using graphene as a light-sensitive material for...