Decoding portal vein thrombosis to discover new treatments

Virginia Hernández

Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Spain

Advanced liver disease can cause dangerous clots in the portal vein, which carries blood to the liver. This frequent and serious complication can worsen patients’ health, limiting treatment options and making liver transplantation more difficult. However, researchers still do not fully understand why these clots form, partly because this area of the body is difficult to study. This project aims to identify the biological processes that trigger and sustain clot formation in people with liver disease.

Using patient samples and laboratory models that reproduce the human vein environment, the researchers will investigate how blood vessels, blood components and the immune system interact. The objective is to identify factors that increase clotting risk and establish a platform for testing new potential treatment strategies.

The expected results could improve understanding of this serious complication and reveal novel approaches for preventing and treating affected patients. In the longer term, the findings may help improve care and clinical outcomes for patients with advanced liver disease and dangerous blood clots.

• Maria Bernabeu, Laboratorio Europeo de Biología Molecular (EMBL), Spain

• Konstantin Stark, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany

IMMunothrombosis Mechanisms and INnovative bioengineered model in Portal Vein Thrombosis

€998,363.19