WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- The need for liver transplants in children could be greatly reduced because of genetic research done by scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
In research with mice, the scientists found that inflammatory genes are activated and control the obstruction of bile ducts in the early stages of biliary atresia, a disease that's the most common cause of liver transplantation in children.
This finding may help in the development of treatments to control that inflammation and progression of the disease. The study appears in the Aug. 2 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Biliary atresia usually becomes evident in infants when they're two weeks to eight weeks old. Unexplained jaundice, dark urine, clay-colored stools and weight loss are among the symptoms. The disease destroys bile ducts in the liver. This traps bile in the liver, causing damage to liver cells and severe scarring of the liver.
The disease accounts for up to 50 percent of children who have to have liver transplantation.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about biliary atresia.
