New Treatment on the Rise for Common Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease cases are on the rise. Many lifestyle habits can prevent the disease, but if a person already has it and it progresses, there are few treatments available. This may soon change, as researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Drug Research have uncovered 27 molecules that activate a special protein within the liver to help better treat fatty liver disease, obesity, diabetic nephrotoxicity, and wound healing.

The researchers sifted through a database of 1.58 million molecules and picked 27 that possessed strong therapeutic potential.

These molecules are currently undergoing a pharmaceutical evaluation to treat two main health problems: Fatty liver disease and obesity.

The special protein that is being activated is known as PPAR-delta. It has the potential to boost endurance and trim waistlines by promoting muscles to burn more fat. Eventually, researchers want to channel the potential to improve wound healing and prevent kidney toxicity in diabetes.

Professor Amiram Goldblum explained, “With such a large group of highly active molecules, there is a high probability to find treatments for several common diseases. However, we should wait till all the experiments are done before we get our hopes up too high.”