A new drug developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health limits the progression of liver fibrosis in mice, a hopeful advance against a condition for which there is no current treatment and that often leads to serious liver disease in people with chronic alcoholism and other common diseases.

“This study represents an important step towards an effective treatment for liver fibrosis,” said George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of NIH. A report of the study, led by NIAAA scientists, is now online in JCI Insight.