GHENT, Belgium, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- A new player in the battle against hepatitis prevents inflammation and the death of liver cells, Belgium researchers say.
Scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology have discovered the function of one of the most important proteins involved in hepatitis. Its scientific name: ABIN-1.
Using a mouse model, the team, connected to Ghent University, has shown the protein not only prevents inflammation of the liver and death of liver cells, but can form the basis for the development of a new therapy in the battle against hepatitis in humans.
Hepatitis is a collective term for a number of inflammations of the liver whose symptoms strongly resemble each other. These inflammations can have a wide variety of causes, such as alcohol abuse or infection by a hepatitis virus.
Hepatitis B and C, for example, are caused by a virus through contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected persons.
