https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... liver.html
by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
In a world-first, QIMR Berghofer scientists have discovered the mechanism that causes severe inflammation among millions of people with chronic liver disease.
Published in Science Signaling, the discovery identifies how and why elevated ferritin (a protein that normally stores iron within cells) causes inflammation which ultimately leads to liver dysfunction including cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure if left untreated.
Professor Grant Ramm, Deputy Director of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and head of the Hepatic Fibrosis Laboratory, said this finding could pave the way for new targeted therapeutics to treat both inherited and acquired liver disease.
"The association between inflammation and circulating ferritin levels in chronic liver disease is well known. However, rather than simply acting as a passive marker of inflammation, our research has demonstrated that tissue-derived ferritin stimulates a cascade of events at a cellular level, accelerating liver inflammation," said Professor Ramm.
"Inflammation is integral in driving early liver scarring, known as fibrosis. If undiagnosed or untreated, scarring can increase over time, severely impacting liver function.
