The University of Brighton is sharing in a €5.9m EU grant to support the development of a new treatment for chronic liver disease as part of a European consortium led by University College London. Cirrhosis of the liver affects 29 million Europeans, claims 170,000 lives every year and costs the EU almost €16 billion. There are several causes of liver disease but the increasing incidence of obesity and excessive alcohol consumption is causing a rapid rise in the number of cases seen across Europe.
Changes in the bacteria that populate the intestine in patients with liver disease make the condition worse and lead to a range of additional health complications. Current treatments include the use of antibiotics to kill the bacteria but the long-term use of these drugs can result in antibiotic resistance and can be very costly.
The University of Brighton’s School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences will receive £189,751 of the grant for laboratory work to assist with trials of a new and safe nanoporous carbon that acts in the intestine to reduce the entrance of bacterial products into the bloodstream, which subsequently exacerbate liver injury.
The school’s Dr Susan Sandeman said: “In cirrhosis, current therapy to prevent recurrent complications of advanced cirrhosis is to use poorly-absorbed antibiotics. But long-term antibiotic therapy has problems associated with bacterial resistance and this can prove costly. We will be part of a consortium investigating the safety and efficacy of this novel nanoporous carbon in patients with liver disease and developing an innovative and cost-effective strategy for disease management.”
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