Essential liver functions include:

• Processing our digested food.
• Detoxification of drugs, poisonous chemicals, and alcohol.
• Storage of Iron, vitamins, and minerals.
• Storage of energy in the form of fats and sugars.
• Production of clotting factors required for normal blood clotting.
• Production of bile required for digestion of foods.

When the liver is suffering from a chronic disease these liver functions are less effective resulting in ill-health.

The major chronic liver diseases include:

• Viral hepatitis (the major forms being due to infections by HCV and HBV).
• Autoimmune hepatitis (e.g. primary biliary cirrhosis).
• Alcoholic liver disease.
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (resulting from obesity and the metabolic syndrome).
• Inherited disorders of metabolism (e.g. Wilson’s disease and Hemochromatosis).

Unless these liver diseases can be effectively treated they cause chronic hepatitis which if unchecked can progress to the development of fibrosis and cirrhosis. Additionally, chronic liver disease can be associated with heart disease and type II diabetes.

Liver fibrosis is:

• A common pathology found in up to 25% of patients with liver disease.
• Caused by the replacement of normal healthy liver cells with scar tissue.
• A progressive pathology and may become associated with gross vascular and anatomical changes in the liver leading to end-stage disease or cirrhosis.
• Associated with a higher risk for development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
• Currently without any medicines that are proven to be effective for preventing its progression to cirrhosis.
• A major reason for liver-related deaths in the UK (16,087 in 2008) and when in advanced stage is only effectively treated by transplantation which is limited by the availability of donor organs.