Understanding the influence of blood vessels on liver recovery may be the first step in developing better treatments for liver injury and solving the problem of why some drugs fail in the pharmaceutical market.

The human liver naturally cleanses the body of most toxins, but this comes at a biological cost. Medication, dietary supplements, and even herbal remedies can be toxic and cause liver injury. Although the liver has mechanisms to recover, these mechanisms sometimes fail unpredictably, leading to one in three drug withdrawals from the pharmaceutical market and impeding the use of developed medicines. In such cases, a liver transplant is the only cure.

Dicle Berfin Azizoglu, an assistant research professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill aims to identify the factors that influence successful liver recovery to better predict outcomes and provide improved treatment options for patients who suffer from liver injury. Azizoglu recently received a Liver Scholar Research Award from the American Liver Foundation.

The award provides $225,000 over three years to support Azizoglu’s unique research angle of focusing on the role and influence of liver blood vessels in liver injury and recovery. The precise role of blood vessels in liver recovery from injury is largely unknown. Liver blood vessels supply nutrients and oxygen to the liver but are also responsible for bringing in toxins. Injury response in blood vessel cells has the potential to be course shifting.

To uncover such potential, Azizoglu’s team asks how blood vessels change in response to liver injury, and how those changes impact the course of recovery. By identifying the unexplored roles of blood vessels, Azizoglu’s work aims to shed light on the potential ways vascular response can be manipulated to alleviate liver injury. The knowledge from studies supported by this award will benefit the advancement of treatments for patients with liver injury, with the long-term goal of minimizing acute liver failure and debilitating chronic complications.

To read the award news on the American Liver Foundation’s website see this link.