New Hope for Liver Diseases

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Treatment for hepatitis C virus routinely involves 48 weeks of combination antiviral therapy. Side effects include flu-like symptoms, and treatment is successful in only half of patients.

So, predicting who will and won't respond would be helpful. Mengshol and his colleagues evaluated 64 patients with hepatitis C virus of the genotype 1, the most common strain and the most difficult to treat.

Researchers have found that therapy affects the dendritic cells differently. Mengshol's team studied blood samples from each patient before treatment and at 24 weeks after starting it. They looked at the population of two different types of dendritic cells, among other factors.

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Levels of one type of dendrite cells normalized in those who responded to the treatment, while levels of those who did not respond did not.

Why some patients respond to therapy and others don't has been an ongoing mystery, Mengshol said. Monitoring the dendritic cells may help doctors determine who might respond to therapy.

In another study, Dr. Uchenna Iloeje, director of virology for Global Clinical Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., reported that monitoring the viral load of hepatitis B virus in patients with that disease is a significant predictor of who will be likely to get liver cancer.

In the study, researchers followed more than 3,500 patients for 11.5 years, Iloeje said.

"Over time, those at highest risk of liver disease had a sustained hepatitis B load," he said.

The liver is the largest organ inside the body. It changes food into energy, cleans alcohol and poisons from the blood, and makes bile, a liquid that aids digestion.

More information

For more on liver diseases, go to Medline Plus.

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