A recent scientific discovery could reduce liver damage and prevent deaths caused by paracetamol overdoses.
Patients who suffer the greatest liver damage have higher levels of a protein known as cyclophilin A in their urine, researchers said treatments to block the harmful effects of the protein may aid such patients.
The University of Edinburgh research team said about 200 people die each year in the UK following a paracetamol overdose.
Around 20 overdose patients underwent a liver transplant last year.
Measuring levels of the protein could also enable doctors to determine much sooner which patients are most at risk of liver failure.
Now the researchers say that high-risk patients could be placed on a liver transplant waiting list sooner, providing more time to find a suitable donor organ.
“Around 30% of patients who have developed significant liver injury following a paracetamol overdose dies,” said lead researcher Dr. James Dear.
He said that if doctors could find a way to block the protein cyclophilin A, it could limit further damage to the liver.
“Alternatively, measuring levels of the protein could indicate straight away which patients will need a liver transplant.
“Waiting a number of days means that valuable time is lost in trying to find a suitable match. Even gaining an extra day or two could save a life.”
A test to assess which patients needed a liver transplant would potentially be of great use, according to Dr. Varuna Aluvihare, a consultant hepatologist at King’s College Hospital, London.
But in many cases, patients who had taken an overdose of paracetamol did not present to specialist services until it was too late to offer effective treatment, he warned.
More than half of all cases of acute liver failure were due to paracetamol overdose at the specialist unit there.
He said that part of the problem was that symptoms took three to four days to appear, but by that stage the damage had already been done.
A meeting of the British Pharmacological Society will debut the findings.
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