October marks National Liver Awareness month. Estimates for the global burden of chronic liver disease range from 50 million to over 100 million affected individuals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2000 — 2015 there was a 31% increase in deaths from chronic liver disease. Numerous diseases ranging from liver cancer to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to hepatitis pose an increasing concern for researchers, who need predictive models to study the disease and develop treatments. Some of the most commonly used mouse models of liver disease are diet induced models (NASH, DIO), xenograft and syngeneic tumor models (NCR nude, Black 6, C3H), as well as a variety of GEMs (genetically engineered models), and the TK-NOG model, which is a super immunodeficient mouse with an inducible liver injury. Engraftment of human hepatocytes after the liver injury provides a humanized liver model useful for modeling human drug metabolism, safety assessment of new drugs, and infectious disease studies.
Download the Taconic Biosciences' White Paper:
