Science | biomedicine
The finding opens the door to the development of individualized therapies for a disease that affects no less than a quarter of the adult population
An international investigation that has had the participation of the Basque laboratory CIC BioGune has discovered that there are three different types of non-alcoholic fatty liver, which is the same, damaged by causes other than the abusive consumption of alcohol. The finding opens the door to the development of individualized therapies for a disease that affects no less than a quarter of the world’s adult population.
Fatty liver is the pathology that explains why many people suffer from cirrhosis or end up needing a liver transplant without having been heavy consumers of alcohol. The liver is the purifier of the human body, the organ responsible for breaking down the fats that reach the body and preparing them for subsequent digestion and absorption. Poor diet and lack of physical exercise are behind the rise of this pathology, which affects 90% of obese people. In its most aggressive forms, it ends up degenerating into hepatitis and cirrhosis.
The laboratory directed by the scientist José María Mato had been carrying out this work for several years, which has had the support of almost twenty research groups and leading hospitals in Europe and the United States. The scientists analyzed the cholesterol and triglycerides (serum lipidomas) of 1,154 patients from different countries and verified that there are at least three subtypes of the disease. The finding, which will take years to be clinically useful, will make it possible to design therapies tailored to the needs of those affected in each of these three groups.
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