Inflammation in the development and outcome of liver disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How does inflammation determine the development and outcome of inflammatory liver diseases:- can new targets for drug therapies can be identified?
IRAS ID
223072
Contact name
Gideon Hirschfield
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Liver disease is an important and growing concern for all ages, both sexes, and all heritages. The culminating factor in liver disease of any aetiology, is end-stage disease, including cirrhosis, liver failure and cancer. These events are seen in all liver diseases whether they are driven by alcohol, viruses, metabolic disorders, drug toxicity, genetic disorders, malignancy or autoimmune injury. Linking these diverse diseases with similar end stages, is the inflammation that arises consequent to the initial injury. Such inflammation, its triggers and its consequences, are proving to be potential targets of new therapies, with the goal of preventing the development of end-stage disease and the need for liver transplantation.
We plan to study specimens from people with varied inflammatory liver diseases, and to use these understand what inflammatory pathways are relevant to liver injury. We seek both to understand those pathways that prove to be specific to certain liver diseases, as well as understanding where pathways to injury are shared. To do so we will probe the cells and substances released that determine immune response and inflammation, correlating not just what happens in the liver, but also what is detectable in circulating blood, urine and stool samples. Furthermore we will use technology platforms to recreate the interactions between different cell populations found in the liver and circulating blood, to understand how interactions between pathways are relevant to liver disease; this includes understanding how cells are recruited to the liver, how they cause damage, and how that damage is controlled and repaired.
Importantly the ultimate goal of our studies is to drive the development of new therapies. These may be specific to one inflammatory liver disease, or may prove, because of shared pathways to inflammation driven liver damage, more widely applicable across a larger spectrum of liver diseases.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
18/WA/0214
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion