MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PATHOGENESIS OF HUMAN LIVER DISEASE

在人类中，慢性肝病会导致一些人而不是所有人的肝硬变。这会导致长期的健康不佳、并发症(腹部液体滞留、精神错乱、血流感染、肾衰竭、肝癌)，导致住院、肝移植和过早死亡。在澳大利亚，肝硬变是导致死亡和潜在寿命损失的重要原因，而肝癌最近翻了一番，预计到2020年将增加两倍。常见的原因是丙型肝炎、脂肪肝疾病、酒精和乙肝；当其中两种疾病同时出现时，患肝硬变的风险更高。这个项目旨在从分子和细胞水平上揭示导致肝硬变的病理过程，以了解为什么一些人处于更高的风险中。这些过程可能是遗传易感性、其他体质因素(年龄、性别)或生活方式因素(营养过剩、缺乏运动、酒精)造成的。来自韦斯特米德S千禧研究所和皇家阿尔弗雷德王子医院百年研究所的3名首席研究员是丙型肝炎、非酒精性脂肪性肝炎(NASH)和其他脂肪性肝病、自身免疫性肝炎、肝移植和导致肝硬变的瘢痕形成过程的国际专家。这些研究将产生的新知识将被用来帮助预防人们患上严重的慢性肝病，并用于治疗已经发生的肝硬变。

n humans, chronic liver diseases cause cirrhosis of the liver in some but not all individuals. This leads to protracted ill-health, complications (fluid retention in the abdomen, confusion, bloodstream infections, kidney failure, liver cancer) resulting in hospitalisation, liver transplantation and premature death. In Australia, cirrhosis is an important cause of death and of years of potential life lost, while liver cancer has recently doubled and is predicted to treble by 2020. The common causes are hepatitis C, fatty liver disorders, alcohol and hepatitis B; when 2 of these are present together, there is a higher risk of cirrhosis. This program aims to unravel the pathological processes which cause cirrhosis at the molecular and cellular levels, in order to understand why some people are at higher risk. These processes could result from genetic predisposition, other constitutional factors (age, gender) or from lifestyle factors (overnutrition, inactivity, alcohol). The 3 chief investigators from Westmead s Millennium Institute and the Centenary Institute of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital are international experts in hepatitis C, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other fatty liver disorders, autoimmune hepatitis, liver transplantation, and scarring processes that lead to cirrhosis of the liver. The new knowledge that will result from these studies will be used to help prevent people developing severe forms of chronic liver disease, and for treating cirrhosis if it has already occurred.