Predicting problems in one of the body's most complex organs soon may become easier because of work being done by Wayne State University researchers. Howard Matthew and Yinlun Huang, professors of chemical engineering and materials science, recently received a $550,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a mathematical model of liver metabolism that can be used to analyze and more effectively predict responses to possible treatments for hepatic steatosis, more commonly known as fatty liver. The condition affects between 15 and 20 percent of the U.S. population and often is a precursor to more serious problems. Accumulation of fat droplets, or lipids, inside liver cells is a key characteristic in many of the organ's failure modes. Increased lipid accumulation is usually the first symptom to appear before a measurable dysfunction occurs.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/01/19/nsf-grant-to-help-wayne-state-predict-fatty-liver-problems/
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/wsu--ngw011912.php
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120120/WSU-professors-receive-NSF-grant-to-develop-math-model-of-liver-metabolism.aspx