Did you know that every year, around 4.5 million grown-ups in the United States are told they have liver disease by doctors?
That’s what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says. Liver disease can lead to serious health issues, so it’s a big problem.
A New Study
Some smart people at Georgetown University decided to study this problem. They discovered a new medicine that targets a special gene. This gene is like a control center for fat and sugar in our bodies.
When mice were given this medicine, they could eat lots of fat but didn’t get liver damage or gain too much weight. Also, their bodies’ sugar levels stayed normal.
A Closer Look at Fatty Liver Disease
There’s a specific type of liver disease called Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD for short. This disease can get worse over time and change into something called inflammatory steatohepatitis, or NASH.
NASH can cause long-lasting inflammation, scarring on the liver, cirrhosis, and even lead to liver cancer.
The good news is that if NAFLD is found early, it can be reversed. Losing weight and changing what you eat can help. But if it reaches the later stages and changes into NASH, it gets more stubborn and harder to treat.
Right now, there’s no specific treatment for NASH. That’s why scientists are working hard and testing many new drugs.
Discovering CTPI-2
In their research, the Georgetown University team created a tiny molecule. This molecule can stop a specific gene named Slc25a1 from working.
They guessed that this gene plays a big role in causing fatty liver disease.
The new drug they discovered is called CTPI-2. They tested it on mice in two ways:
First, they gave it to mice eating a high-fat diet before they developed NASH. Second, they gave it to mice that already had lots of liver damage.
The first scenario is like preventing a problem before it happens. The second one is similar to what happens with people who go to the doctor when the disease has already shown up.
The Amazing Results
The results were pretty amazing! The drug CTPI-2 almost completely stopped NASH and obesity from happening in the mice on a high-fat diet. That’s compared to the mice who didn’t get the drug.
Even in the later stages of the disease, CTPI-2 helped a lot. It reversed liver damage, helped the mice lose weight, and got their sugar levels back to normal.
They also tested this drug on genetically modified mice and saw similar results.
What’s more, CTPI-2 also seems to fight inflammation and several types of cancer.
So, this new drug CTPI-2 sounds really promising. It could be a big step forward in fighting fatty liver disease and maybe even some types of cancer!
The research was published in a scientific journal called Cell Death and Differentiation, and led by Maria Laura Avantaggiati and her team.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about new promising drug for pancreatic, liver cancer, and how sugary beverages affects the liver.
For more information about liver health, please see recent studies about a new therapy for fatty liver disease, and results showing oats and rye brans can protect your gut and liver health.
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