Cutting-edge therapy is the first treatment that could put liver damage from cirrhosis in reverse

British scientists have developed a treatment that could stop fatal liver diseases.

The breakthrough therapy is the first to treat cirrhosis, the scarring of liver tissue caused by heavy drinking, fatty diets and long-term infections by the hepatitis B and C viruses.

Currently, there are no medications or treatments to stop or reverse this process.

More than 10,000 people die from liver disease in Britain every year, and the number of premature deaths has risen by more than 60 percent in the past two decades.

The treatment, developed at the University of Edinburgh, involves taking a blood sample from a patient and extracting white blood cells called monocytes. These are infection-fighting cells that normally live in the blood for a few days and then migrate to the body’s tissues to turn into macrophages – cells that can repair damaged tissue.

Researchers used the monocytes to mass-produce macrophages in the laboratory and then injected them into the patient’s liver.

Experts believe that patients suffering from severe liver cirrhosis produce less effective macrophages due to the damage caused by the disease. By preparing them outside the body, the researchers hope the cells will be better at repairing the scars and ultimately reverse the condition.

Results presented last week at the annual conference of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in Boston, US, showed that of the 26 cirrhosis patients who received the treatment, none experienced a significant worsening of their condition in the subsequent year.

But of the 24 other cirrhosis patients who did not receive the new therapy, four worsened significantly and three died.

Study leader Professor Stuart Forbes, a liver expert at the University of Edinburgh, said further tests are needed to ensure the drug stops or reverses cirrhosis in humans but reverses some of the scarring in animals. “We are encouraged by the results,” said Prof. Forbes.

Fellow researcher Professor Jonathan Fallowfield, also from the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘Currently there is little hope for these patients – apart from a liver transplant.’

A company, Resolution Therapeutics, has been set up to develop the treatment and a larger UK trial is planned for 2024.