DALLAS A new study by UT Health San Antonio researchers led by Memon Ali MD shows that liver transplants an important treatment for patients with advanced alcoholic hepatitis result in decreased liver injury improved blood flow and reduced systemic inflammation making it a promising option for patients undergoing dialysis treatments. The findings are published in Nature Communications.
A team led by Tanya Sika PhD forensic pathologist and Head of the Gastrointestinal Liver Transplants Program at UT Health San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio is a division of Baylor Scott White Health). started charging patients for dialysis for alcoholic hepatitis at UT Health San Antonio one year ago in an effort to reduce the number of patients needing a liver transplant.
Instead of two-thirds of the patients who needed a transplant we doubled that. Our goal is to bring that number down to one-third. We believe that this will be an effective option for about three to four people said Sika adding that approximately one in four patients who entered into a program would stay permanently at home because they couldnt afford the transplant.
Alcohol is the life-threatening complication that nearly all patients with advanced alcoholic hepatitis develop according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With the new innovative therapy strategy it can become a life-threatening outcome. The method used was developed by the Tanya Sika-led team using advanced molecular technology that allowed them to diagnose all the abnormalities in the transplanted livers. Because of this technological advancement however the team was mandated to first optimize the liver biopsies before inserting the graft into the recipient.
The dramatic improvement in liver function that developed in the first year was another of the most crucial elements of the new current strategy.
With this medication we get rid of the unwanted side effects said Sika.
Commonly reported side effects of dialysis on patients. The most common side effects are pain drowsiness fatigue diarrhea constipation fatigue and lights light-headedness nausea fatigue vomiting and headache.
Despite the studies involving only one organ liver transplants performed at UT Health San Antonio also proved to be effective treatments for acute liver failure andor acute inflammatory bowel disease.
Crisis – the word I would use to describe this treatment – is not an exaggeration said Sika.
UH San Antonio researcher and co-principal investigator Dr. Solomon Hsi MD said that the studys success can be measured in the action zone of the liver.
When we started this study if our patients were still able to walk talk eat and breathe we would say have a science-driven demonstration. Now we would say are these outcomes actually very viable?Hsi added These treatments – called immuno-oncology immunotherapy transplant dialysis and other adjuvants for chronic hepatitis – are the best paves the way for healthy individuals first of all. Then for them people can begin surviving for a time along with the liver and the disease can come back later.
