The problem

Progression of chronic liver disease towards cirrhosis is driven by systemic and liver inflammation. Patients with advanced cirrhosis are prone to develop complications and die before they can be transplanted. Patients with cirrhosis requiring critical care are more prone than the general population of critically ill patients to develop bacterial and organ failure. A dysregulated inflammatory response is involved in these susceptibilities. Specific treatment for these patients is still an unmet medical need.

The approach

Develop translational research from bench to bedside and vice-versa to identify new biomarkers and the time window for therapeutic targeting during the progression towards advanced cirrhosis in critically ill patients with cirrhosis.

Main discoveries and innovations

• Profibrogenic role of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells during the progression of chronic liver disease
• Immunoregulatory role of LC3-associated phagocytosis in patients with advanced cirrhosis
• Type I interferon-based gene signature to predict the outcome of patients with advanced cirrhosis
• Characterization of blood immune cells in patients with decompensated cirrhosis including ACLF