The Influence of Mechanical Strain on Hepatic Stellate Cell Function in Relation to the Development of Hepatic Fibrosis

肝疤痕形成(纤维化)和肝硬变(终末期疤痕形成)是几乎所有引起炎症的长期肝病的后果。这些疾病包括先天代谢障碍、毒性损害、免疫状况和病毒感染。在英国，每年约有4000人死于肝硬变的后果，其中三分之二年龄在65岁以下。目前，肝移植是唯一有效的治疗方法，但不幸的是，其有效性受到严重限制。因此，我们必须开发新的治疗方法来预防和逆转肝纤维化。组织肿胀是损伤的早期部分，导致细胞伸展，我们认为这有助于肝纤维化的发展。我们知道，患有先天性心脏病的儿童的肝脏会充血或拉伸，导致肝纤维化和肝硬变。我们打算使用肝脏拉伸的模型，以了解为什么会发生这种情况，以及如何预防。这些结果很可能被用来了解有多少不同的疾病会导致肝脏和组织瘢痕形成，从而导致新疗法的开发。这项研究将在MRC炎症研究中心进行，由肝纤维化方面的领先专家艾瑞代尔教授监督。

Liver scarring (fibrosis) and cirrhosis (end-stage scarring) are the consequence of virtually all long-term liver diseases that cause inflammation. These include inborn metabolic disorders, toxic damage, immune conditions and viral infections. Each year in the United Kingdom, approximately 4000 people die due to the consequences of cirrhosis, two-thirds of whom are aged under-65. At present, liver transplantation is the only definitive treatment but unfortunately its availability is severely limited. We must therefore develop new treatments to prevent and reverse liver fibrosis. Tissue swelling is an early part of injury and leads to the stretching of cells, which we believe contributes to the development of liver fibrosis. We know that the livers of children with congenital heart disease become congested, or stretched, leading to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. We intend to use models of liver stretch in order to understand why this should happen and how it might be prevented. It is likely that these results could be used to understand how many different disorders cause liver and tissue scarring, leading to the development of new treatments. The research will be conducted in the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research under the supervision of Professor Iredale, a leading expert in liver fibrosis.