Our Laboratories

Hepatology

About us

We provide the state-of-the-art medical treatments to patients with diverse liver diseases and perform clinical and basic researches to improve the prognosis of patients. Our laboratory has focused on acute liver failure (ALF) and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD)/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Kyushu University Hospital is one of the highest-volume centers for ALF therapy in Japan and we have demonstrated that intrahepatic hyper-coagulation is one of the pathogeneses of ALF. We also reported the ratio of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) to lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is a useful predictor of intrahepatic hypoxia.
Recently, the prevalence of NAFLD/NASH has increased drastically in Japan, however, no medication is available so far. We have tried to elucidate the pathogenesis of NAFLD/NASH using human liver biopsy samples and mouse models of human NASH to develop novel therapeutic strategies for NASH.

Selected publications

  • A. Kuwano, M. Kohjima, H. Suzuki, A. Yamasaki, T. Ohashi, K. Imoto, M. Kurokawa, Y. Morita, M. Kato, and Y. Ogawa. Recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin ameliorates acetaminophen-induced liver toxicity in mice.
    Exp. Ther. Med. 18:1323-1330, 2019.
  • T. Ohashi, M. Kato, A. Yamasaki, A. Kuwano, H. Suzuki, M. Kohjima, and Y. Ogawa. Effects of high fructose intake on liver injury progression in high fat diet induced fatty liver disease in ovariectomized female mice.
    Food Chem. Toxicol. 118:190-197, 2018.
  • N. Kubota, T. Kubota, E. Kajiwara, T. Iwamura, H. Kumagai, T. Watanabe, M. Inoue, I. Takamoto, T. Sasako, K. Kumagai, M. Kohjima, M. Nakamuta, M. Moroi, K. Sugi, T. Noda, Y. Terauchi, K. Ueki, and T. Kadowaki. Differential hepatic distribution of insulin receptor substrates causes selective insulin resistance in diabetes and obesity.
    Nat. Commun. 7:12977, 2016.
  • M. Tanaka, K. Tanaka, Y. Masaki, M. Miyazaki, M. Kato, K. Kotoh, M. Enjoji, M. Nakamuta, and R. Takayanagi. Intrahepatic microcirculatory disorder, parenchymal hypoxia and NOX4 upregulation result in zonal differences in hepatocyte apoptosis following lipopolysaccharide- and D-galactosamine-induced acute liver failure in rats.
    Int. J. Mol. Med. 33:254-62, 2014.
  • K. Tanaka, Y. Masaki, M. Tanaka, M. Miyazaki, M. Enjoji, M. Nakamuta, M. Kato, M. Nomura, T. Inoguchi, K. Kotoh, and R. Takayanagi. Exenatide improves hepatic steatosis by enhancing lipid use in adipose tissue in nondiabetic rats.
    World J. Gastroenterol. 20:2653-63, 2014.
  • M. Miyazaki, M. Kato, M. Tanaka, K. Tanaka, S. Takao, M. Kohjima, T. Ito, M. Enjoji, M. Nakamuta, K. Kotoh, and R. Takayanagi. Antithrombin III injection via the portal vein suppresses liver damage.
    World J. Gastroenterol. 18:1884-91, 2012.