Claus U. Niemann, MD
Research Interests
My group is interested in identifying why obese individuals are at greater risk of liver injury in the setting of trauma or surgery. My long-term goal is to understand the relationship between metabolic and immunologic processes in the liver. One potential link between these underlying mechanisms could be the peptide leptin, which can profoundly modify inflammatory and metabolic pathways. The goal of this research effort is to improve understanding of the impact of leptin on acute inflammatory cascade and metabolic response during hepatic ischemia-reperfusion. This will benefit patients by improving risk-stratification of candidates for hepatic surgery and possibly lead to preventive therapies for ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Selected Publications
- Serkova NJ, Jackman M, Brown JL, Liu T, Hirose R, Roberts JP, Maher JJ, Niemann CU. Metabolic profiling of livers and blood from obese Zucker rats. J Hepatol 2006;44:956-962.
- Niemann CU, Choi S, Behrends M. Hirose R, Noh J, Coatney JL, Roberts JP, Serkova NJ, Maher JJ. Mild hypothermia protects obese rats from fulminant hepatic necrosis induced by ischemia-reperfusion. Surgery 2006;140:404-412.
- Hirsch J, Hansen KC, Choi S. Noh J, Hirose R, Roberts JP, Matthay MA, Burlingame AL, Maher JJ, Niemann CU. Warm ischemia-induced alterations in oxidative and inflammatory proteins in hepatic Kupffer cells in rats. Mol Cell Proteomics 2006;5:979-986.
- Niemann CU Noh J, Xu, F, Park YH, Choi, S, Roberts JP, Hirose R: Passive cooling significantly improves survival in rats undergoing hepatectomy. J Gastrointest Surg 2008, in press.
- Associate Professor
- Anesthesia and Perioperative Care
Research Theme
- Hepatic Physiology and Metabolism
Contact Information
- niemannc@
anesthesia.ucsf.edu - Phone: (415) 502-2162
- Fax: (415) 502-2224
- 533 Parnassus Ave
- Box 0648, U368T
- San Francisco, CA. 94143 - 0648