LIVER REGENERATION AFTER PARACETAMOL-INDUCED LIVER DAMAGE, BY BLOCKADE OF IL-11 SIGNALLING

Edited by, JASPER VICTORIA

Scientists now suggest that blocking the signaling protein IL-11, previously known to help the liver damaged by paracetamol poisoning, to now have damaging effects on human liver cells, and hence, insist that, their blockade would have a restorative action.

Paracetamol, also called acetaminophen, is a predominantly used antipyretic ,analgesic OTC medication, whose overdose results in liver damage and could even turn fatal. The paracetamol poisoning or toxicity or overdose is often treated with the antidote N-acetyl cysteine within eight hours, after which the patient would require a liver transplant.

They investigated in mice, that the anti-oxidants in the liver get depleted by toxic or excessive doses of paracetamol and damage the mitochondrial proteins of the hepatic cells and trigger sequential events that results in hepatic damage and hepatocellular death.

They administered the anti-IL-11(antibody of IL-11) in the form of a drug to those mice having paracetamol-induced hepatic damage and observed the reversal and also the regeneration of hepatocytes in the mice, ensuring its survival. This blew the possibility to treat paracetamol-induced hepatic damage with anti-IL-11 therapy.

They found in 11 mice under study, with high levels of IL-11 in serum which was involved in activating pathways resulting in hepatic damage. They also found out that, the mice livers had different reactions for different sources of IL-11 such as liver death with mouse IL-11, whereas, a protective effect from liver damage with human IL-11. In the mice, the human IL-11 competed with the IL-11 of the mice and blocked the receptors, hence blocking the activation of the destructive pathways that caused liver damage that happened due to the activation by mice IL-11 from the same species. This indicates that the IL-11 of the same species acted as a liver toxin and the anti-toxin i.e, the IL-11 of the other species blocked the activity of self -IL-11, aiding in protection, recovery and regeneration.

These experiments were conducted by scientists of Duke NUS Medical school and National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) in Singapore and U.K.

This discovery would be the only option for survival of patients in whom a liver transplant is not possible. The researchers are also in swing conducting experiments for similar therapeutic possibilities for the regeneration other organs.