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Exercise Helps Patients With Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Counseling patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on how to increase physical activity leads to health benefits that are independent of changes in weight. These findings are in a new study in the July issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is also available online at Wiley Interscience.

Researchers Identify A Novel Mechanism That Could Be Targeted To Prevent Cancer Spread
Researchers have discovered a key to the function of a specific protein that helps control the levels of other critical proteins within cells, including a protein that suppresses the spread of cancer. The new information about the mechanism of action of the protein, called gp78, may enable researchers to explore new types of therapies to prevent the spread of cancer. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the June 26, 2009, issue of Molecular Cell.
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European Paediatric Influenza Analysis (EPIA) Group Formed To Quantify The Burden Of Seasonal Influenza In Children In Europe
The Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) and SDI, a U.S. private-sector healthcare information company, announced the formation of the European Paediatric Influenza Analysis (EPIA) group, created to generate data needed to inform the decision process about paediatric influenza vaccination policy in individual European countries. Researchers from Denmark, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain and Wales are participating; it is hoped that other countries will also join. EPIA was formed to address knowledge gaps highlighted in a recent European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report that concluded that a key barrier to decision-making about paediatric flu vaccines is the lack of high-quality, European-specific data on disease burden, especially for young children. It is estimated by ECDC that at least 40,000 people die each year from influenza in the European Union (EU). EPIA will present the initial results from their research project at the 27th annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) in June.
Nutrition

Inflammatory Molecules Promote Liver Scarring

Scarring of the liver, which can progress to cirrhosis and/or cancer of the liver, is caused by persistent liver damage, such as occurs in those with untreated hepatitis C or alcoholism. Although such scarring (fibrosis) develops in an inflammatory environment, the role of inflammatory molecules has not been well defined. However, a team of researchers at Columbia University, New York, and UCSD, La Jolla, has established that the proteins CCR1 and CCR5 and the soluble inflammatory molecules that bind to them promote the development of liver fibrosis in mice. The team, led by Robert Schwabe and Ekihiro Seki, observed that expression of the inflammatory molecules MIP-1-alpha, MIP-1-beta, and RANTES, and the proteins to which they bind (CCR1 and CCR5), was increased in 2 mouse models of liver fibrosis. Consistent with a role for these molecules in the development of liver fibrosis, preventing the inflammatory molecules binding CCR1 and CCR5 reduced liver fibrosis, as did eliminating expression of either CCR1 or CCR5. The latter experiments also identified the cells on which CCR1 and CCR5 expression is important for promoting liver fibrosis. As expression of RANTES, CCR1, and CCR5 was detected in the livers of patients with cirrhosis, the authors suggest that targeting CCR1 and CCR5 (for which there are already small molecule inhibitors in clinical development) might be a viable approach to prevent liver fibrosis. TITLE: CCR1 and CCR5 promote hepatic fibrosis in mice AUTHORS: Robert F. Schwabe Columbia University, New York, New York, USA. Ekihiro Seki University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA. View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/article.php?id=37444 Karen Honey Journal of Clinical Investigation JCI online early table of contents: June 15, 2009


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