Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures
that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients
following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after
transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage.
Such early detection of susceptibility to hepatitis C virus-
induced liver injury could lead to more personalized monitoring
and treatment options after a transplant. Also, because the
markers stem from an underlying pathology occurring at a very
basic level, they might reveal why hepatitis C is so clinically
variable, and suggest new therapies to protect patients' own
livers. The findings were the cover story of the liver disease
journal Hepatology. The molecular and protein markers were found
in separate studies, one led by Dr. Angela "Angie" Rasmussen,
and the other by Dr. Deborah Diamond, both working in the lab of
Dr. Michael Katze, professor of microbiology at the University
of Washington. The Katze lab employs systems approaches to
studying many viral pathog