Research lab

The Research Laboratory of Internal Medicine was founded in 1999 by the Senate of the University of Thessaly. More than 100 publications in peer-reviewed international high-impact journals with more than 3000 citations came out from the research activities of this lab. Over the past 10 years, it attracted competing and non-competing projects of a total value of over €2,000,000. The laboratory has all necessary infrastructure and devices. Various diagnostic tests of autoantibodies associated with autoimmune diseases of the liver and induced by autoimmune hepatitis viruses are available using multiple techniques which are developed in the laboratory (in-house methods) and are not available anywhere else in Greece in a similarly standardized way. As a result, the research lab is acknowledged as a reference center for the diagnostic approach of autoantibodies associated with autoimmune diseases of the liver (liver-related autoantibodies; anti-LKM1, anti-LKM3, anti-LM, anti-LC1, anti-SLA/LP, anti -F-actin SMA, anti-a-actinin, anti-cardiolipin, anti-deamidated gliadin, anti-gp210, anti-sp100, etc) and controls diagnostic sera of undiagnosed patients from major tertiary hospitals of the country (e.g. Hippocration Hospital in Thessaloniki, Laikon Hospital in Athens, Pediatric Hospital in Athens, University Hospitals of Ioannina, Alexandroupolis, Patras, etc) but also from private hospitals / health institutions and private practitioners.

Also, laboratory detection of viral markers of viral hepatitis virus B, C and D is performed with modern standardized molecular techniques (HCV-RNA, HBV-DNA with PCR technique, genotyping HCV and detection of HDV-RNA which are not performed anywhere else in Greece). These tests are being performed not only for research but also for diagnosis and follow-up of the patients of the Larissa University Hospital as well as other hospitals as mentioned above.

Also, several studies are performed in the lab focusing in various scientific fields (such as the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis B, C and D) in biological fluids of patients at the cellular level and in animal models (e.g. in ApoE knockout mice, in order to study the effect of various substances in plasma lipids and in development of atherosclerosis).

The research topics of interest in the Research Laboratory include:

Autoimmune liver diseases
Chronic viral hepatitis
Non-organ-specific autoantibodies in chronic viral hepatitis and other liver diseases
Molecular mechanisms in hypertension and atherosclerosis.

PERSONNEL

DIRECTOR

G.N. Dalekos, Professor of Internal Medicine

FACULTY

K. Makaritsis, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine

K. Zachou, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine

N. Gatselis, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine

PhD CANDIDATES – GRADUATE STUDENTS

S. Gkampeta, A. Garagounis, T. Zografos, I. Spiros. K. Economou, M. Bakarozi, K. Galanis, A. Papadavid, S. Skribas, C. Kotidis

TECHNICIANS

L. Exarchou, (Exclusively funded by the research projects of the Lab)

A. Liberopoulou (CV)