Israelis discover gene responsible for liver disease

After years of hunting, Dr. Rifaat Safadi and his team of Hadassah medical researchers in Jerusalem have found the gene that causes liver disease. This groundbreaking discovery paves the way for potential new treatments.

---

Safadi, an Arab-Israeli physician who heads the Liver Unit at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein-Karem, tells ISRAEL21c that while the gene, Neuroligin 4 (NLGN4), was already known to be involved in brain neuron communication, his team was the first in the world to identify NLGN4 in the immune system and liver. “The gene is there and now the question is how much of it is being expressed, since an over-expression of this gene is affecting immune system modulation, or the immune control of fibrosis in the liver,” he explains. In a healthy person, NLGN4 helps repair liver tissue when it gets damaged by daily abuses. But if the immune system is compromised by hepatitis, alcohol consumption, over-eating or the use of some medications, the gene overreacts and doesn’t work as well to prevent liver scarring. This increases the risk of cirrhosis of the liver — the final phase of advanced liver disease. More...

---