Many cancer patients lose a lot of weight during their disease: Fat and muscle mass are reduced, free fatty acids accumulate in the liver, and this eventually leads to fatty liver in affected patients. What is called tumor cachexia appears to be caused by signals emitted by the tumor itself.

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries are well known for their cholesterol busting properties, but scientists in India say that its leaves are also rich in anti-oxidants and may help ward off liver disease, according to new research due to be published in the Society of Chemical Industry’s (SCI) Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Professor Yi-Yang Hu and his colleagues confirmed that Jianpi Huoxue decoction (JHD) reduced the cytokine expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and inhibited some targets in LPS-activated Kupffer cell signal pathway. This may provide new insight on the mechanism of JHD on alcoholic liver injury.

The liver is the production site of most of the proteins which favour and inhibit the process of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Patients with liver cirrhosis may develop serious coagulopathy and a hyperfibrinolytic state, which contributes to the bleeding tendency.

Chronic liver disease patients often have low systemic vascular resistance that causes low blood pressure before liver transplant, but after receiving a new liver, they may suffer post-operative heart problems that leave the left ventricle unable to pump out an adequate amount of blood. This situation puts patients at a greater risk of organ failure and death.

Hepatitis C-related deaths in the United States increased by 123 percent from 1995 through 2004, the most recent year for which data are available. Mortality rates peaked in 2002, then declined slightly overall, while continuing to rise among people 55 to 64 years old.

Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have suboptimal levels of cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, body composition and physical fitness, according to a new study.

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is associated with severe bleeding and considerable transfusion requirements. There are several reasons for this severe bleeding in OLT. Hemostatic abnormalities remain a major cause.

The cannabinoid receptors best known for delivering the psychological effects of marijuana also explain the connection between chronic alcohol use and a buildup of fat in the liver, according to a report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

A new population-based epidemiological study has found that elevated liver enzymes discovered during routine medical care are associated with higher future mortality.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has been selected to join an effort among select centers in the United States and Canada to collect and study information necessary to understand the possible causes and treatment of a destructive liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

An article recently published in the January 14 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology has great significance for NASH. This article will undoubtedly bring about new pathogenesis and treatment of NASH.