Stephen McNally

Project Title

'New Therapies for Liver Ischaemia-Reperfusion Injury.'

Funding

Mr Stephen McNally is a Chief Scientist Office clinical fellow. The funding for this project is provided by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Clinical Scientist.

Supervisors

This project is funded by:

• Professor OJ Garden
• Dr D Keith
• Professor SJ Wigmore

Project Funding

Liver resection can be a life saving treatment, however it carries a significant operative mortality. A major contributor to the operative risk is ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), for which there is currently no specific treatment.

Limiting IRI preserves postoperative hepatic function in patients undergoing liver resection, and reduces postoperative complications.

A similar injury occurs in liver transplantation where it is exacerbated by stimulation of the host immune response. This can lead to primary non-function, necessitating re-transplantation.

There is a significant clinical need for treatments for IRI to improve outcomes following liver surgery. Heme oxygenase-1 is a protective cellular enzyme which can protect liver cells from such injury and has clinical potential in this situation. The optimal method to exploit this clinically has not yet been established.

The focus of this research is the use of treatments to protect hepatocytes from injury, alteration of Kupffer cell function and reduction of the inflammatory response seen in the liver following ischaemia-reperfusion injury.