Development and resolution of liver & bowel fibrosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the mechanisms that drive development and resolution of liver and bowel fibrosis. Identification of new drug targets.
IRAS ID
255520
Contact name
Patricia Lalor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Improvements in healthcare have led to a reduction in morbidity and mortality for many chronic conditions. One notable outlier is liver disease. In the UK, liver disease is now the 5th most common cause of death. We are experiencing a dramatic annual increase in the incidence of liver disease, in part due to lifestyle-dependent factors such as alcohol exposure, viral infection and obesity. Similarly inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are on the increase in western populations and newly industrialised countries are following this trend.
Many such diseases result in long-term inflammation, tissue damage and scar formation or fibrosis. In the case of liver diseases, many patients do not present with any outward sign of disease until this damage is extensive and has led to scarring of the tissue. In IBD, intestinal fibrosis is also a common and devastating outcome. During chronic liver injury, scarring or fibrosis gradually accumulates and replaces functional liver tissue. The liver may become hard and nodular ( ‘cirrhotic’), causing alterations in normal blood flow to the liver and other organs. Loss of functional liver mass also results in significant compromise in key functions which can lead to eventual liver failure and damage to other organs. There is currently no approved medicinal therapy to treat liver fibrosis and every year over 4000 patients in the UK die from liver cirrhosis as a result of end stage disease and fibrosis. In the case of Crohn’s disease up to a third of patients will require surgical resection as a consequence of fibrosis and structuring which carries a significant morbidity risk. Thus we urgently need new tools to diagnose and stage patients with liver and bowel fibrosis, and also effective therapies that can be used as an alternative to transplantation.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
19/WA/0139
Date of REC Opinion
30 Apr 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion