UK research using mice has revealed that the ageing of cells in the liver can trigger a cascade effect leading to multi-organ failure in otherwise healthy organs.
A cell death process (called senescence) happens when cells stop dividing and lose their function – this happens typically with ageing, but is also triggered by severe diseases in the body.
Researchers – from University College London (UCL), the University of Edinburgh, and the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Scotland Institute – used genetically altered mice to mimic liver injury to show that blocking the production of a protein (TGFβ) also stopped the senescence process in mice and its spread to other organs such as the lungs and brain.
The study, published in Nature Cell Biology, was then tested in patients by using human liver biopsies.
Rajiv Jalan from UCL said: “Our findings provide the first insight into why severe liver injury results in the failure of other organs, such as the brain and kidneys, and death.
“We were able to validate these new and exciting observations in patients, providing a route to develop blood biomarkers that can be measured to identify those at risk, and new therapies to treat severe liver disease.”