Predictors of hepatic flares after nucleos(t)ide analogue cessation - Results of a global cohort study (RETRACT-B study).

Background & Aims: Flares after nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) cessation are common and potentially harmful. Predictors of flares are required for risk stratification and to guide off-treatment follow-up.

Method: This multicenter cohort study included virally suppressed patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who were hepatitis B e antigen negative at NA cessation.

Development of Etf-3-specific nanobodies to prevent Ehrlichia infection and LNP-mRNA delivery in cellular and murine models.

Ehrlichia chaffeensis is an obligatory intracellular bacterium that infects monocytes and macrophages and causes human monocytic ehrlichiosis. Ehrlichia translocated factor-3 (Etf-3) is a type IV secretion system effector that binds host-cell ferritin light chain and induces ferritinophagy, thus increasing cellular labile iron pool for Ehrlichia proliferation. To further characterize roles of Etf-3 in Ehrlichia infection, we produced immune libraries of Etf-3-specific nanobodies (Nbs).

Rheumatoid factor levels indicate cryoglobulinemia severity in hepatitis B e antigen-negative hepatitis B virus carriers: a 7-year prospective cohort study.

Background: The phenotype of cryoglobulinemia in hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers remains elusive.

Methods: A 7-year prospective cohort of 648 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative Taiwanese HBV carriers [males: 344 (53%)] was conducted.

Results: Among 648, 189 (29.

Predicting Survival Status in COVID-19 Patients: Machine Learning Models Development with Ventilator-Related and Biochemical Parameters from Early Stages: A Pilot Study.

: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause intubation and ventilatory support due to respiratory failure, and extubation failure increases mortality risk. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the feasibility of using specific biochemical and ventilator parameters to predict survival status among COVID-19 patients by using machine learning. : This study included COVID-19 patients from Taipei Medical University-affiliated hospitals from May 2021 to May 2022.

RipE expression correlates with high ATP levels in , which confers resistance during the extracellular stage to facilitate a new cycle of infection.

Ehrlichiosis is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by infection with the obligatory intracellular bacteria species. infection of mice provides an animal model of ehrlichiosis as it recapitulates full-spectrum and lethal ehrlichiosis in humans. The transposon mutant of , which encodes a previously uncharacterized hypothetical protein, is attenuated in both infection and virulence in mice.

The Challenge of a Recall Program from a Community-Based Hepatitis C Screening Campaign: The Effectiveness in HCV Microelimination.

The optimal strategy for the microelimination of HCV within community settings remains ambiguous. We evaluated the percentage of participants who achieved linkage to care (LTC) following the conclusion of a screening campaign and examined the diverse factors influencing LTC among these individuals. The effectiveness of recall intervention for the non-LTC population and its barriers were analyzed.

Pulmonary Vascular Permeability and Extravascular Lung Water Index in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis and Septic Shock.

: Patients with cirrhosis are susceptible to sepsis and septic shock. Cirrhotic patients also have increased capillary permeability and are prone to developing volume overload. Patients with septic shock may have an enhanced pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI) and extravascular lung water index (EVLWI), both of which are associated with an unfavorable prognosis.

Factors associated with treatment responses to pioglitazone in patients with steatotic liver disease: A 3-year prospective cohort study.

Aim: The response rate to pioglitazone and the predictive factors for its effects on improving liver biochemistry in patients with steatotic liver disease (SLD) remain elusive, so we aimed to investigate these issues.

Methods: A 3-year prospective cohort study of 126 Taiwanese patients with SLD treated with pioglitazone (15-30 mg/day) was conducted. Phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 I148M rs738409, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase rs1801133, aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 and lipoprotein lipase rs10099160 single nucleotide polymorphisms were assessed in the patients.

Critical distance of the sacroiliac joint for open reduction using screw fixation for traumatic sacroiliac joint diastasis: a retrospective study.

Background: Osteosynthesis for sacroiliac joint (SIJ) diastasis using an iliosacral screw (ISS) and a trans-iliac-trans-sacral screw (TITSS) can be performed using a closed or an open method. However, no clear indication for open reduction has been established.

Methods: Data on patients with unilateral traumatic SIJ diastasis who underwent ISS and TITSS fixation were retrospectively collected and separated into groups according to the reduction method: closed reduction group (C group) and open reduction group (O group).

Hepatic and Extrahepatic Characteristics of Autoimmune Hepatitis: A 23-year Hospital-Based Cohort Study.

Background: The characteristics of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in Asia mostly remain elusive.

Methods: A cohort study of liver biopsy-proven AIH patients was conducted in a tertiary care cancer of Taiwan.

Results: From 1999 to 2022, of 13,766 patients who underwent liver biopsy, 150 patients with AIH were enrolled.

Evolutionary relationship between antimitochondrial antibody positivity and primary biliary cholangitis in Taiwan: a 16-year hospital cohort study.

Background: How antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)-positive patients evolve to have primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in viral hepatitis-endemic areas is unknown.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate this evolution in Taiwan.

Design/methods: A 16-year medical center-based cohort study of 2,095,628 subjects was conducted in Taiwan, an Asian country endemic to viral hepatitis.

effector TRP120 manipulates bacteremia to facilitate tick acquisition.

Unlabelled: species are obligatory intracellular bacteria that cause a potentially fatal disease, human ehrlichiosis. The biomolecular mechanisms of tick acquisition of and transmission between ticks and mammals are poorly understood. infection of mice recapitulates the full spectrum of human ehrlichiosis.

Limited Sustained Remission After Nucleos(t)ide Analog Withdrawal: Results From a Large, Global, Multiethnic Cohort of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B (RETRACT-B Study).

Introduction: Complete viral suppression with nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) has led to a profound reduction in hepatocellular carcinoma and mortality among patients with chronic hepatitis B. Finite therapy yields higher rates of functional cure; however, initial hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevations are almost certain after treatment interruption. We aimed to analyze off-treatment outcomes beyond 12 months after NA cessation.

Tenofovir alafenamide or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in pregnancy to prevent HBV transmission: Maternal ALT trajectory and infant outcomes.

Background: The use of antiviral agents, specifically tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), in pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child HBV transmission is a key step towards hepatitis elimination. However, data on using tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is insufficient. The frequent occurrence of postpartum ALT flares may impact the clinical implementation.

A novel prognostic model to predict mortality in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure in intensive care unit.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) implies high short-term mortality rates and usually requires intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Proper prognosis for these patients is crucial for early referral for liver transplantation. The superiority of CLIF-C ACLF score in Asian patients with ACLF admitted to an ICU remains inconclusive when compared to other scoring systems.

Long-term renal function alterations in hepatitis C patients with SVRs: Impacts of therapies and mixed cryoglobulinemia.

Background / Aims: Effects of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapeutic regimens and mixed cryoglobulinemia on long-term renal function of HCV-infected patients with viral clearance have not been determined.

Methods/materials: A prospective 10-year cohort study of 1212 HCV-infected patients (interferon-based therapy, n = 615; direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, n = 434) was conducted.

Results: At baseline, age, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin (Hb) and uric acid (UA) levels, and fibrosis-4 score were associated with estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) in HCV-infected patients.

Higher end-of-treatment HBsAg levels is associated with later onset but not severe relapse in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients stopping antivirals.

Background: Quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) level at end-of-treatment (EOT) predict clinical relapse (CR) after nucleos(t)ide analogues (Nuc) in chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients. It is unclear if higher EOT qHBsAg leads to earlier onset or more severe off-Nuc CR.

Aim: This large cohort study investigates the association between EOT qHBsAg and CR onset/severity.