With the help of germs a liver fibrosis can be detected

Bacteria help detect dangerous alcoholic liver fibrosis
Liver fibroses usually do not lead to symptoms at the beginning of the disease and are therefore often only discovered if they have led to cirrhosis. The treatment is thus made more difficult. As an international research team now reports, bacteria should help to detect liver fibrosis early.

Therapy successes in liver diseases stagnate
Liver cirrhosis is responsible for around 170,000 deaths a year in Europe alone. Europeans are world champions in alcohol consumption. Alcohol, in turn, is the leading cause of liver disease such as liver cancer and cirrhosis. While the survival rates in the treatment of many diseases have increased significantly in recent years, the therapeutic successes in liver diseases are stagnating. As reported by the "Informationsdienst Wissenschaft" (idw), the research consortium GALAXY, which is headed by the Odense University Hospital in Denmark, now wants to go on the offensive.

Liver fibrosis rarely causes symptoms at the beginning of the disease. Bacteria should help to recognize the disease early. (Image: ag visual / fotolia.com)

Liver disease even with lower alcohol consumption
Susceptibility to alcohol-induced diseases varies from person to person. It is reported that about five to ten percent of the strong alcoholics get liver cirrhosis. However, such liver disease can also be triggered by much lower alcohol consumption. Since there is still no reliable prediction, in many patients, the diagnosis is made only at a time when already irreparable damage to the liver. It is said that the goal of the six-year research project is to identify people affected by creeping liver disease in the simplest possible way. This could be, for example, a simple blood test that indicates when people develop cirrhosis of the liver very quickly and therefore need therapy very quickly.

Bacteria interact with the liver
Scientists believe that gut bacteria are a promising approach to this. According to idw, the thesis is that these bacteria interact with the liver - they can either protect the organ or promote the development of harmful scar tissue. While examinations are being carried out on patients in Denmark, researchers are examining Jonel Trebicka, Senior Physician at the Medical Clinic and Polyclinic I of the University Hospital Bonn, modeled on animals.

Recognize high-risk patients
"We will try to test treatment options for these pathomechanisms," Trebicka explained. The expert assumes that there is a very high number of cases of liver cirrhosis because of the underlying stigma associated with the underlying alcohol consumption. "The extent, especially in young people, is frightening," says the professor. The project will help identify patients at high risk earlier and develop potential therapies.

Liver fibrosis at the beginning often without symptoms
According to health experts, liver fibroses often do not lead to symptoms at first or may even be asymptomatic. Therefore, many chronic liver disease patients are only discovered if they are already conspicuous with long-term consequences of cirrhosis. Slight fibrosis can cause symptoms similar to those of fatty liver, such as bloating, pain in the region of the liver (liver pain), flatulence, listlessness, and overall physical and mental disability. However, pronounced liver fibrosis can show all the symptoms of advanced liver disease. (Ad)