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Hello, my name’s David Adams, I’m Director of the NIHR Biomedical
Research Unit in Liver Disease at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and
the University of Birmingham. We’ve got an exciting seminar
programme with three projects being presented by dynamic, up and
coming young clinician scientists.
Obesity and diabetes are now reaching epidemic proportions in the UK
and as a result people are at risk of a condition called non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease. With the exception of lifestyle changes, there really
are no accepted treatments for this condition at present and as a result,
it is now the most common cause of liver disease in the western world.
The LEAN Trial is a multi-centre trial looking at the effect and safety of
a new diabetes drug called Liraglutide in specifically patients with liver
biopsy confirmed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Patients get
randomly selected to 48 weeks treatment with either a dummy drug,
which is known as a placebo, or the study treatment itself, Liraglutide.
The trial itself has actually been designed here by researchers at
Birmingham’s NIHR Liver Biomedical Research Unit and hopefully the
results will give us novel information to help with this condition.
Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver for which there are many different
causes. Unfortunately the best treatment for that remains a liver
transplant. As the demand for liver transplants is rising, unfortunately
patients who are waiting for those liver transplants are dying on the list.
In this clinical trial, which is the largest of its kind, we are aiming to see
if patients own stem cells can be used to help repair the damage.
Patients will have the stem cells isolated from the bone marrow and
then re-infused on three different occasions. The study is being run
here in Birmingham but also in Nottingham and Edinburgh and we aim
to recruit 81 patients.
Hepatitis C infection is a leading reason for liver transplant in the UK.
Unfortunately, after transplant, the Hepatitis C virus particles in the
blood enter the newly transplanted liver and cause liver injury, liver
damage and sadly in 1 out of 3 patients, liver failure. In this trial we will
study a new drug that aims to block the entry of Hepatitis C virus
particles into that liver, thereby offering hope for patients and avoiding
progressive liver injury and the need for re-transplantation in the future.
I think you’ll find all of these studies exciting and interesting and I hope
you’re able to join us on the 20th September.