Lactobacillus lactis and Pediococcus pentosaceus-driven reprogramming of gut microbiome and metabolome ameliorates the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Although microbioa-based therapies have shown putative effects on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), it is not clear how microbiota-derived metabolites contribute to the prevention of NAFLD. We explored the metabolomic signature of Lactobacillus lactis and Pediococcus pentosaceus in NAFLD mice and its association in NAFLD patients.

Methods: We used Western diet-induced NAFLD mice, and L.

Effect of Korean Red Ginseng on metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) refers to a clustering of at least three of the following medical conditions: high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, low high-density lipoprotein level, and high serum triglycerides. MS is related to a wide range of diseases which includes obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. There remains an ongoing need for improved treatment strategies for MS.

Lactobacillus attenuates progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by lowering cholesterol and steatosis.

Background/aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely related to gut-microbiome. There is a paucity of research on which strains of gut microbiota affect the progression of NAFLD. This study explored the NAFLD-associated microbiome in humans and the role of Lactobacillus in the progression of NAFLD in mice.

Effect of Korean Red Ginseng in chronic liver disease.

Chronic liver disease, one of the most common diseases, typically arises from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis, or hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, there is a pressing need for improved treatment strategies. Korean Red Ginseng has been known to have positive effects on liver disease and liver function.

Prognostic Significance of Hemodynamic and Clinical Stages in the Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background & Goals: Early identification of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with improved survival for patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). We evaluated the prognostic significance of hemodynamic stage (HS) and clinical stage (CS) in predicting HCC in CLD patients.

Methods: Between January 2006 and May 2014, 801 patients with CLD who underwent hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement were prospectively enrolled.

Microbiota-based treatments in alcoholic liver disease.

Gut microbiota plays a key role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Consumption of alcohol leads to increased gut permeability, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and enteric dysbiosis. These factors contribute to the increased translocation of microbial products to the liver via the portal tract.

Effects of Korean Red Ginseng (Panax ginseng), urushiol (Rhus vernicifera Stokes), and probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 and Lactobacillus acidophilus R0052) on the gut-liver axis of alcoholic liver disease.

Background: Roles of immune reaction and toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) have widely been established in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD).

Methods: We evaluated the biologic efficacy of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG), urushiol, and probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 and Lactobacillus acidophilus R0052) in mouse models of ALD. Sixty C57BL/6 mice were equally divided into six feeding groups for 10 weeks: normal diet, alcohol, control, alcohol + KRG, alcohol + urushiol, and alcohol + probiotics.

Transarterial chemoembolization in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage 0/A hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0 and A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: Between January 2001 and September 2011, 129 patients with BCLC stage 0 and stage A HCC who underwent TACE were retrospectively enrolled. Patient characteristics, routine computed tomography and TACE findings, survival time and 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates, risk factors for mortality, and survival rates according to the number of risk factors were assessed.

Catheter-free method is sufficient for preparation for transnasal endoscopy: randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aim: Although transnasal endoscopy (TNE) is generally a comfortable and safe procedure, it has some disadvantages, such as complicated preprocessing and occasional repulsion reaction during catheterization. In an attempt to simplify the preprocessing method, the efficacy of a catheter-free method in which a catheter is not inserted into the nasal cavity was assessed.

Methods: The present study was a prospective, open-label, single-center, randomized controlled study with parallel assignment allocation 1:1.

Characteristics of nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (NGIH) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: From 2003 to 2010, a total of 72 CKD patients (male n = 52, 72.2%; female n = 20, 27.

Clinical characteristics and pituitary dysfunction in patients with metastatic cancer to the sella.

Objective: Metastatic disease to the sella is uncommon and there are limited available data regarding the clinical aspects of this disease. We therefore sought to characterize the clinical demographics of sellar metastases.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of adults treated at Stanford University Medical Center from 1980 to 2011 with metastatic disease to the sella.