Liver cirrhosis: An overview and treatment

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis is the diffuse illness in which the fit liver tissues are swapped by degenerated scar tissues due to excessive alcohol use and chronic infections by the Hepatitis virus which ultimately alters the usual working of the liver. The various complications may arise due to abnormal functioning of live e.g. Portal hypertension, cardiovascular collapse, Gallstones, Heart failure, Hepatic carcinoma, and various other infections.  Because of all these complications of liver cirrhosis, it is one of the 10 leading reasons of demise in the world. Nausea, vomiting, jaundiced skin, pain in the abdomen, deposition of extracellular matrix by fibrogenesis are the characteristic features of cirrhosis. Since there is no specific diagnostic test or agent for cirrhosis, it is also one of the causes that it remains undetectable over a long time. Various imaging tests (CT, MRI) and more specific Percutaneous liver biopsy are made use for diagnosing liver cirrhosis. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is increasingly used for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis and sclerosing cholangitis. Other drugs used are just for the symptomatic treatment of cirrhosis for e.g. LIV.52 as hepatoprotective, Diuretics (furosemide and aldosterone) for the removal of excess fluid from ascites, Beta-adrenergic-antagonists for treating the variceal bleeding, etc. The newer therapy i.e. Gene Therapy by use of urokinase plasminogen activators is also going to be a great success in the treatment of cirrhosis. The recent advances are mainly focused on the development of anti-fibrotic agents, hepatocyte stem cell transplantation and the use of various measures for prevention of the causes of cirrhosis. By the development of various non-invasive markers, the early detection of disease can reduce the progression of the disease. By successful research on these treatment aspects, in the next ten years, cirrhosis will not be an untreatable leading reason of illness or death in the world.