Hepatoprotective and Anti-fibrotic Agents: It's Time to Take the Next Step

Frontiers in Pharmacology
Ralf Weiskirchen

Abstract

Hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis cause strong human suffering and necessitate a monetary burden worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of therapies. Pre-clinical animal models are indispensable in the drug discovery and development of new anti-fibrotic compounds and are immensely valuable for understanding and proofing the mode of their proposed action. In fibrosis research, inbreed mice and rats are by far the most used species for testing drug efficacy. During the last decades, several hundred or even a thousand different drugs that reproducibly evolve beneficial effects on liver health in respective disease models were identified. However, there are only a few compounds (e.g., GR-MD-02, GM-CT-01) that were translated from bench to bedside. In contrast, the large number of drugs successfully tested in animal studies is repeatedly tested over and over engender findings with similar or identical outcome. This circumstance undermines the 3R (Replacement, Refinement, Reduction) principle of Russell and Burch that was introduced to minimize the suffering of laboratory animals. This ethical framework, however, represents the basis of the new animal welfare regulations in the member states of the European Un...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 28, 2017·Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research = Revista Brasileira De Pesquisas Médicas E Biológicas·H A MuradM S Ibraheem
Oct 27, 2016·Clinical Liver Disease·Ralf Weiskirchen, Frank Tacke
Jan 2, 2019·World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG·Hu LiZong-Gen Peng
Jun 22, 2017·Liver International : Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver·Ralf Weiskirchen
Nov 12, 2019·Frontiers in Pharmacology·Ralf Weiskirchen
Feb 29, 2020·Journal of Digestive Diseases·UNKNOWN Chinese Society of Hepatology, Chinese Medical Association; Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Chinese Medical Association
Aug 11, 2020·World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG·Qun-Yan YaoGuang-Qi Song
Nov 27, 2019·Cells·Ralf WeiskirchenMichael Huber
Jan 9, 2021·Dose-response : a Publication of International Hormesis Society·Hussam MuradMamdooh Gari
May 25, 2021·Frontiers in Pharmacology·Pragyan AcharyaRalf Weiskirchen
Jul 3, 2021·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Xixin WangPeter A M de Witte
Aug 8, 2021·Cells·Beatrice FogliaMaurizio Parola

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
ribosylation
antisense nucleotides
deamination
acetylation

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