Publications by authors named "Chien-Hung Chen"

Given the widespread use of partial hepatectomy for treating various liver pathologies, understanding the mechanisms of liver regeneration is vital for enhancing liver resection and transplantation therapies. Here, we demonstrate the critical role of the serine protease Hepsin in promoting hepatocyte hypertrophy and proliferation. Under steady-state conditions, liver-specific overexpression of Hepsin in adult wild-type mice triggers hepatocyte hypertrophy and proliferation, significantly increasing liver size.

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Fentanyl and its analogs have emerged as the main factor behind the ongoing opioid abuse globally in recent years. However, the existing techniques for sensitive and accurate detection of fentanyl are often complex, laborious, expensive, and restricted to central healthcare facilities. We reported herein a plasmonic biochip fabricated by the femtosecond laser-induced nanostructures and plasmonic nanomaterials for sensitive SERS-based detection of fentanyl.

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Background And Aims: Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) achieve high sustained virologic response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C patients; yet a proportion of patients still experience de novo liver complications after SVR. Identification of risk factors is clinically important. FIB-4 index is a useful noninvasive tool to assess fibrosis, while neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a biomarker for systemic inflammation.

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Introduction: The progression patterns, dispositions, and outcomes of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who achieved durable responses with immunotherapy remain poorly characterized.

Methods: Patients with advanced HCC who received immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based immunotherapy and achieved durable responses were retrospectively included. A durable response was defined as partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) per RECIST 1.

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Background: The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex disease with multifactorial etiology. The intestinal dysbiosis have been investigated to play an important role in IBD pathogenesis and disease activity. The aim of our study was to analyze the intestinal microbiota composition in IBD across different severity levels and the impact of biologic therapy on microbiota modulation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Acetaminophen overdose is a major cause of liver damage, and current treatments mainly involve N-acetylcysteine, which have limitations.
  • This study reveals that hepsin, a type of protease, plays a protective role against acetaminophen-induced liver injury by regulating gap junctions and oxidative stress in the liver.
  • Hepsin deficiency worsens liver damage in mice, while administration of hepsin, especially in combination with lower doses of N-acetylcysteine, shows promise for improving treatment outcomes for liver injuries.
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Background/aims: The study is to analyze the clinical characteristics and identify prognostic factors as well as evaluate predictive models in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) from Southern Taiwan.

Methods: The cohort study was conducted using the Chang Gung Research Database. We included patients with ACLF based on the definition provided by the Asian-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver ACLF Research Consortium (AARC).

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Background & Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk persists in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) despite antiviral therapy. The relationship between pre-treatment baseline hepatitis B virus (HBV) viral load and HCC risk during antiviral treatment remains uncertain.

Methods: This multinational cohort study aimed to investigate the association between baseline HBV viral load and on-treatment HCC risk in 20,826 noncirrhotic, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and HBeAg-negative patients with baseline HBV DNA levels ≥2000 IU/mL (3.

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We present a method for modification of silicon nitride (SiN) waveguide resonators using femtosecond laser annealing. The quality (Q) factor of the waveguide resonators can be improved by approximately 1.3 times after annealing.

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Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) increases the risk of liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This nationwide cohort study assessed the effectiveness of viral eradication of CHC.

Methods: The Taiwanese chronic hepatitis C cohort and Taiwan hepatitis C virus (HCV) registry are nationwide HCV registry cohorts incorporating data from 23 and 53 hospitals in Taiwan, respectively.

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Background And Aims: Risk stratification for patients with a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is crucial. We aimed to investigate the role of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index in predicting chronic hepatitis C (CHC)-related HCC.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study consecutively included treatment-naive CHC patients receiving longitudinal follow-up at the National Taiwan University Hospital from 1986 to 2014.

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Background: Phase 3 studies in patients with chronic hepatitis B have shown tenofovir alafenamide to have non-inferior efficacy to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, with improved renal and bone safety. We conducted this study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of switching to tenofovir alafenamide in participants with chronic hepatitis B and renal or hepatic impairment.

Methods: This open-label, multicentre, phase 2 study was done in eight countries or territories at 30 sites.

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Selective inhibition of the RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) integrin αvβ1 has been recently identified as an attractive therapeutic approach for the treatment of liver fibrosis given its function, target expression, and safety profile. Our identification of a non-RGD small molecule lead followed by focused, systematic changes to the core structure utilizing a crystal structure, modeling, and a tractable synthetic approach resulted in the identification of a potent small molecule exhibiting a remarkable affinity for αvβ1 relative to several other integrin isoforms measured. Azabenzimidazolone demonstrated antifibrotic efficacy in an rat liver fibrosis model and represents a tool compound capable of further exploring the biological consequences of selective αvβ1 inhibition.

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Whether serum Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) level at year 5 of treatment could predict hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and mortality beyond year 5 of entecavir or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) treatment in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with cirrhosis remain unclear. This retrospective study investigated the role of M2BPGi level at year 5 of treatment in predicting HCC and mortality beyond year 5 in CHB patients with cirrhosis. This study analyzed 1385 cirrhotic patients receiving entecavir or TDF treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cancer worldwide, with evolving treatments whose real-world application is not well understood; the INSIGHT study aimed to assess this in the Asia-Pacific region over a 7-year period following previous research.
  • Data was gathered from 2,533 newly diagnosed HCC patients across 33 sites in 9 countries, highlighting hepatitis B as the primary risk factor in most areas, while Japan, Australia, and New Zealand showed more hepatitis C and diabetes cases among patients.
  • The study found significant variations in first-line treatments among countries and disease stages, influencing survival rates, and emphasized that demographics, treatment costs, and therapy access could cause geographical differences
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, poses significant challenges in detection and diagnosis. Medical imaging, especially computed tomography (CT), is pivotal in non-invasively identifying this disease, requiring substantial expertise for interpretation. This research introduces an innovative strategy that integrates two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) deep learning models within a federated learning (FL) framework for precise segmentation of liver and tumor regions in medical images.

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Background And Aim: The REgistry of Selective Internal radiation therapy in AsiaNs (RESIN) was a multicenter, single-arm, prospective, observational study of Y resin microspheres in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) from Taiwan. RESIN is the first real-life clinical study of this therapy in an Asian cohort. Study objectives were to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Y resin microspheres.

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Background: No study has comparing hepatitis B virus (HBV) relapse rates among patients with both cancer and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who completed anti-viral prophylaxis for chemotherapy and then stopped taking entecavir or tenofovir alafenamide (TAF).

Methods: A total of 227 HBeAg-negative cancer patients without cirrhosis who previously took entecavir (n = 144) or TAF (n = 83) for antiviral prophylaxis were enrolled.

Results: The cumulative incidence of virological and clinical relapse at 2 years was 37% and 10.

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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.

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Background: The risk of first recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within years 5 to 10 after curative hepatectomy remains unknown. We aimed to assess the incidence and prognostic factors for very late recurrence among patients who achieved 5 years' recurrence-free survival (RFS) after primary resection.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 337 patients with early-stage HCC underwent primary tumor resection and achieved more than 5 years' RFS.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study aimed to validate the link between baseline HBV viral load and the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in adults with chronic hepatitis B and without cirrhosis.
  • The analysis involved 7,545 patients from Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and showed that 2.6% (200 patients) developed HCC during an average of 4.28 years of antiviral treatment.
  • The findings indicated that higher baseline HBV viral loads (≥8.00 log 10 IU/mL) were associated with the lowest risk of HCC, while lower viral loads increased the risk significantly.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to help the WHO eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030 by identifying areas with high hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence for targeted screening and treatment.
  • Data from eight hospitals in Yunlin County showed an overall anti-HCV screening rate of 30.4% and a prevalence rate of 15.4% among residents aged 40 and older, with village-specific rates varying significantly.
  • Community-based screening in Kouhu Township confirmed the findings, revealing ongoing high prevalence rates, and highlighted the importance of prioritizing screening in these at-risk areas.
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