Liver Research最新文献

{"title":"Clinical characteristics and risk factors of hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis/hepatocellular carcinoma: A single-center retrospective study","authors":"Feng Chen ,&nbsp;Qianhui Li ,&nbsp;Xiaomin Xu ,&nbsp;Fei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.07.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.07.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and aims</h3><p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global health problem which progresses to liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Early prediction of disease changes and intervention are essential to slow disease progression and protect liver function. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with HBV-related LC and HCC at different serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and explore the risk factors of HBV infection progressing to LC/HCC.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>A total of 379 patients with HBV infection treated in The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen between January 2014 and December 2016 without any antiviral drug therapy were enrolled. Patients were divided into the LC/HCC and non-LC/HCC groups based on clinical diagnosis, which was determined through imaging and expressions of pathological and laboratory test markers, and patients with LC/HCC were further divided into three groups according to the serum ALT levels. Differences in general information, clinical symptoms, and expression levels of serological indices of the above groups were compared and analyzed, logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for LC/HCC development, and the clinical diagnostic efficacy of indicators was judged by the receiver operator characteristic (ROC).</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>LC/HCC mainly occurred in the ALT normal and mildly elevated groups, with 70.83% of patients with HCC having an LC background. In the comparison of different ALT level groups, the moderately–severely elevated group had the highest proportion of patients with skin jaundice, abdominal varices, rebound tenderness, higher white blood cell and neutrophil (NEUT) counts; and higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase, glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin. The LC/HCC group was older and had significantly higher proportions of male patients, alcohol consumption, and combined hypertension than the non-LC/HCC group (all <em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age, combined hypertension, abdominal varicose veins, subcostal palpation, and NEUT count were risk factors for LC/HCC development; and the area under the curve for this model on the ROC analysis was 0.935 (95% confidence interval 0.899–0.972) with specificity and sensitivity of 97.4% and 70.7%, respectively.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Advanced age, combined hypertension, abdominal varicose veins, subcostal palpation, and high NEUT count are risk factors for LC/HCC development in patients with untreated HBV infection.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 237-243"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47219675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COVID-19 associated liver injury: An updated review on the mechanisms and management of risk groups","authors":"Yue Shi ,&nbsp;Mina Wang ,&nbsp;Liqun Wu ,&nbsp;Xuexin Li ,&nbsp;Zehuan Liao","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.07.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with various liver injury cases worldwide. To date, the prevalence, mechanism, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and outcomes of COVID-19-induced liver injury in various at-risk groups are not well defined. Liver injury may arise in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 from direct causes such as viral infection and indirect causes such as systemic inflammation, hypoxic changes, and drugs that exacerbate any pre-existing liver disease. Studies have found that patients with underlying liver disease are at higher risk of COVID-19-induced liver injury. Certain condition of cardiopulmonary and metabolic diseases and vulnerable stages in lifespan may also involve in the development of COVID-19-induced liver injury. This review summarized studies of COVID-19-induced liver injury in different at-risk groups regarding their clinical characteristics, parameters, and correlations of the severity with these indicators and signs as well as potential treatment suggestions, to increase attention to physiological and pathological conditions and continue liver function monitoring as they can help in strengthening early supportive treatment and reducing the incidence of adverse outcomes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 207-215"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44789961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Small-molecule chemical probes for the potential therapeutic targets in alcoholic liver diseases","authors":"Ashish Dogra ,&nbsp;Feng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.09.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livres.2023.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) encompasses a range of conditions resulting from prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption, causing liver damage such as alcoholic fatty liver, inflammation, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Alcohol consumption contributes to millions of deaths each year. So far, the effective treatments for ALD are limited. To date, the most effective treatment for ALD is still prevention by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, and only few specialized medicines are in the market for the treatment of patients suffering from ALD. Small molecules targeting various pathways implicated in ALD pathogenesis can potentially be used for effective therapeutics development. In this review, we provide a concise overview of the latest research findings on potential therapeutic targets, specifically emphasizing small-molecule interventions for the treatment and prevention of ALD.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 177-188"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50202257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Erratum regarding missing declaration of competing interest statements in previously published articles","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 272-273"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50203028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal use of red cell volume distribution width-to-platelet ratio to exclude cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B","authors":"Hongsheng Yu ,&nbsp;Chao Li ,&nbsp;Mingkai Li ,&nbsp;Zixi Liang ,&nbsp;Abdukyamu Smayi ,&nbsp;Bilan Yang ,&nbsp;Kodjo-Kunale Abassa ,&nbsp;Jianning Chen ,&nbsp;Bin Wu ,&nbsp;Yidong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and aims</h3><p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health issue worldwide as it may cause serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ruling out cirrhosis is important when treating chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis score based on four factors (FIB-4), and red cell volume distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR) in diagnosing liver fibrosis stages and to identify new cut-off values to rule out cirrhosis.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Between 2005 and 2020, 2182 eligible individuals who underwent liver biopsy were randomly assigned to derivation and validation cohorts in a 6:4 ratio. A grid search was applied to identify optimal cut-off values with a sensitivity of &gt;90% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of at least 95%.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Overall, 1309 individuals (175 patients with cirrhosis) were included in the derivation dataset, and 873 (117 patients with cirrhosis) were included in the validation cohort. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of RPR for diagnosing cirrhosis was 0.821, which was comparable to that of APRI (0.818, <em>P</em> = 0.7905) and FIB-4 (0.803, <em>P</em> = 0.2395). When applying an RPR of 0.06, cirrhosis was correctly identified with a sensitivity of 93.1% and an NPV of 97.1%, while it misclassified 12 of 175 (6.9%) patients in the derivation cohort. In the validation cohort, RPR had a sensitivity and NPV of 97.4% and 99.0%, respectively, and only misclassified 3 of 117 (2.6%) patients. Subgroup analysis indicated that the new RPR cut-off value performed more consistently than that of APRI and FIB-4 in all subgroups.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>A recently established cut-off value for RPR (≤0.06) was validated and was more effective than APRI and FIB-4 in excluding patients with cirrhosis due to a higher sensitivity and NPV and a lower misclassification rate. This simple and dependable test could have significant clinical implications in identifying patients who require monitoring for portal hypertension-associated complications and screening for HCC, particularly in middle and primary healthcare settings.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 244-251"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48337729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circadian rhythms and inflammatory diseases of the liver and gut","authors":"Jessica M. Ferrell","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Circadian rhythms play a central role in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and orchestrating inter-organ crosstalk. Research evidence indicates that disruption to rhythms, which occurs through shift work, chronic sleep disruption, molecular clock polymorphisms, or the consumption of alcohol or high-fat diets, can influence inflammatory status and disrupt timing between the brain and periphery or between the body and the external environment. Within the liver and gut, circadian rhythms direct the timing of glucose and lipid homeostasis, bile acid and xenobiotic metabolism, and nutrient absorption, making these systems particularly susceptible to the effects of disrupted rhythms. In this review, the impacts of circadian disruption will be discussed with emphasis on inflammatory conditions affecting the liver and gut, and the potential for chronotherapy for these conditions will be explored.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 196-206"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46272795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Dietary and nutraceutical approaches","authors":"Ludovica Cogorno ,&nbsp;Elena Formisano ,&nbsp;Andrea Vignati ,&nbsp;Amalia Prigione ,&nbsp;Antonio Tramacere ,&nbsp;Consuelo Borgarelli ,&nbsp;Samir Giuseppe Sukkar ,&nbsp;Livia Pisciotta","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), defined as the presence of fat accumulation in imaging or histology in more than 5% of hepatocytes and exclusion of other causes for secondary hepatic fat accumulation, is one of the major causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of progression from NAFLD to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and forthcoming liver failure. Also, genetic predisposition contributes to the risk of NAFLD development. This review explores the role of diets and nutraceuticals in delaying the development and the evolution of NAFLD to chronic liver disease. The Mediterranean diet, high-protein diet, low-carbohydrate/high-fat diet, high-carbohydrate/low-fat diet, and intermittent fasting are the dietary approaches investigated given the presence of relevant literature data. Moreover, this review focused on nutraceuticals with proven efficacy in ameliorating NAFLD and grouped them into four different categories: plant-based nutraceuticals (<em>Ascophyllum nodosum</em> and <em>Fucus vesiculosus</em>, <em>Silymarin</em>, Berberine, Curcumin, Resveratrol, <em>Nigella sativa</em>, Quercetin), vitamin-like substances (vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin C, coenzyme Q10, inositol), fatty acids (omega-3), and microbiota-management tools (probiotics).</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 216-227"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50203024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial transformations of bile acids and their receptors in the regulation of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease","authors":"Yuhua Gao ,&nbsp;Jun Lin ,&nbsp;Chuan Ye ,&nbsp;Siqi Guo ,&nbsp;Changtao Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.09.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livres.2023.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Bile acids (BAs) play important roles in the digestion of dietary fats and molecular signal transduction, and modulation of the BA composition usually affects the progression of metabolic diseases. While the liver produces primary BAs, the gut microbiota modifies these products into various forms that greatly increase their diversity and biological functions. Mechanistically, BAs can regulate their own metabolism and transport as well as other key aspects of metabolic processes via dedicated BA receptors. Disruption of BA transport and homeostasis leads to the progression of liver diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we summarize the microbial transformations of BAs and their downstream signaling in the development of metabolic diseases and present new insights into novel therapeutic strategies targeting BA pathways that may contribute to these diseases.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 165-176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50203025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of high throughput spectral flow cytometry for immune cell profiling in mouse liver","authors":"Grayson W. Way ,&nbsp;Hongkun Lu ,&nbsp;Xuan Wang ,&nbsp;Derrick Zhao ,&nbsp;Carmen Camarena ,&nbsp;Devanand Sarkar ,&nbsp;Rebecca K. Martin ,&nbsp;Huiping Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The liver plays an important role in both metabolism and immunity. Disruption of the hepatic immune microenvironment is closely associated with various liver diseases. To gain a better understanding of how different types of immune cells contribute to the progression of liver diseases, it is crucial to thoroughly characterize hepatic immune cells. Although direct digestion of liver tissue is a relatively simple method for isolating immune cells, it often induces excessive hepatocyte death, which causes a release of intracellular components that leads to the activation of stress responses and injury in the surrounding cells. This injury can lead to excessive death in the hepatic immune cells, making isolation and accurate characterization of the immune profile challenging, especially in diseased livers. The method described here addresses these challenges by utilizing Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and digestion buffer perfusions to eliminate contaminating blood cells, ensure a pure hepatic immune population, and minimize hepatic immune cell death. Further <em>ex vivo</em> digestion of the liver enables the isolation of the immune cells from the hepatic tissues and the generation of a single-cell suspension that can be stained for spectral flow cytometry. To enhance intracellular cytokine detection and maintain signaling under different physiological and pathological conditions, this protocol uses an <em>in vivo</em> administration of Brefeldin A, a less toxic inhibitor of cytokine secretion. This <em>in vivo</em> administration of Brefeldin A allows for a more accurate representation of the immune cell function and cytokine expression compared to the traditionally used <em>ex vivo</em> Brefeldin A administration. A comprehensive spectral flow cytometry panel, comprising extracellular and intracellular staining, is used for deep immunophenotyping and immune cell effector function profiling. While this protocol is specifically designed for liver digestion of <em>Mdr2</em> knockout mice (a model for primary sclerosing cholangitis) and flow cytometry staining, it can also be applied to other liver diseases and sensitive tissues.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 3","pages":"Pages 263-271"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46914746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predictive value of Th17 and Treg cells at baseline for HBsAg loss in chronic hepatitis B patients with low HBsAg quantification treated with pegylated interferon and nucleos(t)ide analogue","authors":"Li-Li Wu ,&nbsp;Xiao-Yan Li ,&nbsp;Kai Deng ,&nbsp;Bing-Liang Lin ,&nbsp;Hong Deng ,&nbsp;Dong-Ying Xie ,&nbsp;Geng-Lin Zhang ,&nbsp;Qi-Yi Zhao ,&nbsp;Zhi-Shuo Mo ,&nbsp;Yue-Hua Huang ,&nbsp;Zhi-Liang Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.livres.2023.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and aims</h3><p>The primary goal of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment is to reduce hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). T helper 17 (Th17) and regulatory T (Treg) cells are essential for the development of CHB. However, how Th17 and Treg cells contribute to HBsAg loss is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to search for the predictive value of Th17 and Treg cells for HBsAg loss in CHB patients with low HBsAg quantification.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The study included 99 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB patients who had completed a year of nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) monotherapy and had received both NA and pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) treatment for less than 96 weeks (96 wk). In the cured group, 48 patients lost HBsAg within 48 wk, while 51 patients did not (uncured group). Blood samples and clinical data were collected for research.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>During PEG-IFN and NA combination therapy, the proportion of Th17 cells in the cured group increased significantly, while the proportion of Treg cells in the uncured group increased. From 0 to 24 wk, the proportion of Th17 cells in the cured group was significantly higher than in the uncured group, while the opposite was true for Treg cells. Patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≥ 2.5 upper limit of normal (ULN) at 12 wk had a higher proportion of Th17 cells and a lower proportion of Treg cells than those with ALT &lt;2.5 ULN at 12 wk. Additionally, the proportion of Th17 cells is inversely associated with the level of HBsAg, whereas the level of Treg cells is positively related to HBsAg quantification. The clinical cure index, including age, HBsAg quantification, and the proportions of Th17 and Treg cells, had a higher area under the curve (0.957) for predicting HBsAg loss when compared to the proportions of Th17 and Treg cells and HBsAg quantification alone.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Combined with quantification of HBsAg, the proportions of Th17 cells and Treg cells at baseline can be used as good predictors of HBsAg loss in patients with low HBsAg quantification treated with NA and PEG-IFN.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36741,"journal":{"name":"Liver Research","volume":"7 2","pages":"Pages 136-144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49272689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}