Integration of Viral Genome to Human Genomic DNA in Nails of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA can be detected in patient genomes. However, it remains unknown whether viral DNA can be integrated into host genomic DNA and detected in fingernails.

Methods: Nails from patients with chronic HBV infection were investigated.

Peripheral-dominant liver fibrosis and tumor distribution in a mouse model of congestive hepatopathy.

Aim: Congestive hepatopathy often leads to liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Imaging modalities provided clinical evidence that elevation of liver stiffness and tumor occurrence are mainly induced in the periphery of the liver in patients with congestive hepatopathy. However, clinical relevance of liver stiffness and liver fibrosis is unclear because liver congestion itself increases liver stiffness in congestive hepatopathy.

Signature of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in nails and hair.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is detected in extrahepatic tissues of individuals with HBV infection. Whether nails and hair contain HBV has been unknown.

Methods: We examined two patient groups: those with chronic HBV infection alone (n = 71), and those with both chronic HBV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infections (n = 15).

Sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes tumor development and liver fibrosis in mouse model of congestive hepatopathy.

Background And Aims: Chronic liver congestion reflecting right-sided heart failure (RHF), Budd-Chiari syndrome, or Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD) is involved in liver fibrosis and HCC. However, molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and HCC in chronic liver congestion remain poorly understood.

Approach And Results: Here, we first demonstrated that chronic liver congestion promoted HCC and metastatic liver tumor growth using murine model of chronic liver congestion by partial inferior vena cava ligation (pIVCL).

Cluster of Differentiation 44 Promotes Liver Fibrosis and Serves as a Biomarker in Congestive Hepatopathy.

Congestive hepatopathy (CH) with chronic passive congestion is characterized by the progression of liver fibrosis without prominent inflammation and hepatocellular damage. Currently, the lack of reliable biomarkers for liver fibrosis in CH often precludes the clinical management of patients with CH. To explore fibrosis biomarkers, we performed proteome analysis on serum exosomes isolated from patients with CH after the Fontan procedure.

Hepatitis B virus DNA in the fingernails and hair of children with acute hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is detectable in the nails and hair of patients with chronic HBV infection. However, it remains unclear whether HBV DNA can be detectable in the nails and hair of patients with acute HBV infection. We encountered two cases of children with acute HBV infection.

Pharmacotherapy options for managing hepatitis B in children.

Introduction: To eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis, with particular focus given to hepatitis B and C in 2016. To achieve the reduction of mortality in children, it is indispensable to know which children should be treated and how to treat them.

Area Covered: In this article, the authors review the antiviral treatment of children with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection including antivirals available for children with chronic HBV infection.

High Dose of Pegylated Interferon for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B in Children Infected With Genotype C.

Unlabelled: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C infection is unlikely to show a good response to interferon (IFN). However, it is unknown whether a high dose of pegylated IFN (PEG-IFN) treatment would be effective for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive children with chronic HBV genotype C infection.

Methods: HBeAg-positive children and adolescents with chronic HBV genotype C infection were eligible for this study.

Discordance of hepatitis B vaccination policies for healthcare workers between the USA, the UK, and Germany.

The hepatitis B (HB) vaccine is effective for the prevention of HB virus infection. It has been widely accepted that an anti-HB surface antibody (HBs) level ≥10 mIU/mL is protective against HB virus infection. Although transient infection can occur in individuals who attain a peak level of anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL after primary vaccination, long-term follow-up studies show that successful primary vaccination can prevent individuals from acute clinical hepatitis and chronic infection.

Deep sequencing of hepatitis B surface antigen gene in the preserved umbilical cords in immunoprophylaxis failure against mother-to-child HBV transmission.

Background: Vaccine escape mutants (VEMs) are one of the causes of breakthrough infections in the mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). We hypothesized that VEMs existing as minor populations in the maternal blood are associated with breakthrough infections in children. We sought to determine whether VEMs exist as minor populations in the preserved umbilical cords of children with breakthrough infections.

Long-term outcomes of pediatric-onset primary sclerosing cholangitis: A single-center experience in Japan.

Aim: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is very rare in Japan. Although a large-scale cohort study of 781 pediatric-onset PSC patients in Europe and North America showed that the 5-year survival with native liver was 88%, the long-term outcomes of pediatric-onset PSC in Japan are unknown. Here, we evaluated the clinical outcomes of pediatric-onset PSC in Japan.

Liver disease secondary to congenital heart disease in children.

: Hepatic fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can develop in children with congenital heart disease. Although hepatic fibrosis and HCC are prone to develop after the Fontan operation, they can also develop in patients suffering from congenital heart disease who have not undergone Fontan operation. : The history of cardiac hepatopathy including Fontan-associated liver disease is described.

Loss of fibrocystin promotes interleukin-8-dependent proliferation and CTGF production of biliary epithelium.

Background & Aims: Congenital hepatic fibrosis (CHF) is a genetic liver disease resulting in abnormal proliferation of cholangiocytes and progressive hepatic fibrosis. CHF is caused by mutations in the PKHD1 gene and the subsequent dysfunction of the protein it encodes, fibrocystin. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of CHF, which is quite different from liver cirrhosis, remains unclear.

Cholesterol Metabolism Is Enhanced in the Liver and Brain of Children With Citrin Deficiency.

Context: Citrin-deficient infants present neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis caused by citrin deficiency (NICCD), which resolves at 12 months. Thereafter, they have normal liver function associated with hypercholesterolemia, and a preference for lipid-rich carbohydrate-restricted diets. However, some develop adult-onset type II citrullinemia, which is associated with metabolic abnormalities.

Serum Amino Acid Profiling in Citrin-Deficient Children Exhibiting Normal Liver Function During the Apparently Healthy Period.

Background: Citrin (mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate transporter) deficiency causes the failures in both carbohydrate-energy metabolism and the urea cycle, and the alterations in the serum levels of several amino acids in the stages of newborn (NICCD) and adult (CTLN2). However, the clinical manifestations are resolved between the NICCD and CTLN2, but the reasons are still unclear. This study evaluated the serum amino acid profile in citrin-deficient children during the healthy stage.

Treatment with medium chain fatty acids milk of CD36-deficient preschool children.

Objective: CD36 deficiency is characterized by limited cellular long chain fatty acid uptake in the skeletal and cardiac muscles and often causes energy crisis in these muscles. However, suitable treatment for CD36 deficiency remains to be established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and metabolic effects of medium chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) in two CD36-deficient preschool children who often developed fasting hypoglycemia and exercise-induced myalgia.

Usefulness of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein in children with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Background: Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein (WFA -M2BP) is a novel serum marker of hepatic fibrosis in adults with chronic hepatitis C. However, it remains unclear whether serum WFA -M2BP levels are associated with the progression of liver histology in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Methods: Twenty-eight children and adolescents with pediatric-onset PSC (male : female patient ratio, 20:8; median age at diagnosis, 9 years) were enrolled in this study.

Treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the refeeding phase of anorexia nervosa complicated with severe neutropenia and sepsis: a case report.

Leukopenia is frequently observed in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, serious infectious diseases are infrequent in patients with AN. We present the case of a 13-year-old girl with AN complicated with severe neutropenia and sepsis upon refeeding.

Pediatric hepatitis B treatment.

Although the introduction of hepatitis B vaccine has been contributing to the reduction in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers worldwide, the treatment of children with chronic HBV infection is a challenge to be addressed. HBeAg seroconversion, which induces low replication of HBV, is widely accepted as the first goal of antiviral treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B. However, spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion is highly expected in children with chronic HBV infection.

Acute liver dysfunction not resulting from hepatitis virus in immunocompetent children.

Background: The aim of the present study was to clarify the roles of cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in immunocompetent children with acute liver dysfunction not resulting from hepatitis virus.

Methods: Sixty-eight children (median age, 3 years) hospitalized as a result of acute liver dysfunction were enrolled in this study. Hepatitis A, B, and C were excluded.

Circulating tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolite levels in citrin-deficient children with metabolic adaptation, with and without sodium pyruvate treatment.

Citrin deficiency causes adult-onset type II citrullinemia (CTLN-2), which later manifests as severe liver steatosis and life-threatening encephalopathy. Long-standing energy deficit of the liver and brain may predispose ones to CTLN-2. Here, we compared the energy-driving tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and fatty acid β-oxidation cycle between 22 citrin-deficient children (age, 3-13years) with normal liver functions and 37 healthy controls (age, 5-13years).

Evaluation of the G145R Mutant of the Hepatitis B Virus as a Minor Strain in Mother-to-Child Transmission.

The role of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutant G145R, with a single change in amino acid 145 of the surface protein, as a minor population remains unknown in mother-to-child transmission. The minor strain as well as the major strain of the G145R mutant were evaluated in three cohorts using a locked nucleic acid probe-based real-time PCR. The breakthrough cohort consisted of children who were born to HBV carrier mothers and became HBV carriers despite immnoprophylaxis (n = 25).