Hydrogen Sulfide Promotes Platelet Autophagy via PDGFR-α/PI3K/Akt Signaling in Cirrhotic Thrombocytopenia.

Background And Aims: The role of platelet autophagy in cirrhotic thrombocytopenia (CTP) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of platelet autophagy in CTP and elucidate the regulatory mechanism of hydrogen sulfide (HS) on platelet autophagy.

Methods: Platelets from 56 cirrhotic patients and 56 healthy individuals were isolated for analyses.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt with radioactive seed strand for main portal vein tumor thrombosis with cirrhotic portal hypertension.

Background: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma complicated with main portal vein tumor thrombosis (mPVTT) and cirrhotic portal hypertension (CPH) have an extremely poor prognosis, and there is a lack of a clinically effective treatment paradigm.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) combined with radioactive seed strand for the treatment of mPVTT patients with CPH.

Methods: The clinical data of 83 consecutive patients who underwent TIPS combined with I seed strand placement for mPVTT and CPH from January 2015 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.

Correlation of pressure gradient in three hepatic veins with portal pressure gradient.

Background: The liver is one of the most important organs in the human body, with functions such as detoxification, digestion, and blood coagulation. In terms of vascular anatomy, the liver is divided into the left and the right liver by the main portal vein, and there are three hepatic efferent veins (right, middle, and left) and two portal branches. Patients with impaired liver function have increased intrahepatic vascular resistance and splanchnic vasodilation, which may lead to an increase in the portal pressure gradient (PPG) and cause portal hypertension (PHT).

infection and peptic ulcer disease in cirrhotic patients: An updated meta-analysis.

Background: Peptic ulcer (PU) is more prevalent in patients with liver cirrhosis. The role of () infection in the pathogenesis of PU in patients with cirrhosis is still not elucidated.

Aim: To perform a meta-analysis on the prevalence of infection and PU and their association in liver cirrhosis patients.

Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: What should we expect from a meta-analysis?

Background: The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a matter of debate. Although it has been studied in many observational studies, the results remain controversial.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases liver transplant-free mortality in patients with cirrhosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the prognosis and complications of liver cirrhosis is not fully clarified.

Aim: To clarify the mortality and related risk factors as well as complications in cirrhotic patients with T2DM.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to December 1, 2020 for cohort studies comparing liver transplant-free mortality, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), variceal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in cirrhotic patients with without T2DM.

Chinese guidelines on the management of liver cirrhosis (abbreviated version).

Based on reviews of the literature and experts' consensus, the Chinese Society of Hepatology developed guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of liver cirrhosis, in order to improve clinical practice. In addition to what has been covered in previously published guidelines on the management of cirrhosis complications, these guidelines add new sections and provide updates. The guidelines emphasize the early diagnosis of the cause and assessment of complications.

Computed tomography liver stiffness measurement and magnetic resonance imaging in evaluating esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Computed tomography (CT), liver stiffness measurement (LSM), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are non-invasive diagnostic methods for esophageal varices (EV) and for the prediction of high-bleeding-risk EV (HREV) in cirrhotic patients. However, the clinical use of these methods is controversial.

Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of LSM, CT, and MRI in diagnosing EV and predicting HREV in cirrhotic patients.

Rifaximin improves survival in cirrhotic patients with refractory ascites: A real-world study.

Background: Rifaximin has been shown to reduce the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy and other complications in patients with cirrhosis. However, few studies have investigated the effect of rifaximin in cirrhotic patients with refractory ascites.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of rifaximin in the treatment of refractory ascites and to preliminarily explore its possible mechanism.

Chinese guidelines on management of hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis.

The Chinese Society of Hepatology developed the current guidelines on the management of hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis based on the published evidence and the panelists' consensus. The guidelines provided recommendations for the diagnosis and management of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) including minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) and overt hepatic encephalopathy, emphasizing the importance on screening MHE in patients with end-stage liver diseases. The guidelines emphasized that early identification and timely treatment are the key to improve the prognosis of HE.

Tolvaptan treatment improves survival of cirrhotic patients with ascites and hyponatremia.

Background: Although tolvaptan treatment improves hyponatremia, only few studies have investigated whether tolvaptan actually benefits the survival of cirrhotic patients. This study evaluated the impact of tolvaptan on six-month survival of decompensated cirrhotic patients with and without hyponatremia.

Methods: Two hundred forty-nine decompensated cirrhotic patients with or without hyponatremia were enrolled in a multicenter cohort study.

Screening and bioinformatics analysis of circular RNA expression profiles in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important role in pathogenesis and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, circRNA expression profiles in hepatitis B Virus (HBV)-related HCC remain to be studied.

Methods: Total 13 HBV-related HCC patients were enrolled for study.

Tolvaptan in Chinese cirrhotic patients with ascites: A randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial.

Objective: To evaluate tolvaptan as a novel therapeutic option for Chinese patients with liver cirrhosis-associated ascites in a phase 2 clinical trial.

Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial was conducted in patients with insufficient responses to combination therapies of an oral loop diuretic and an aldosterone antagonist. Reduction in body weight and abdominal circumference, increase in 24-h cumulative urine volume and improvement in serum sodium level from baseline to the end of treatment in the tolvaptan groups (15 mg/day or 30 mg/day orally) were compared with those in the placebo group.

Can a fibrotic liver afford epithelial-mesenchymal transition?

The question whether epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) occurs during liver fibrogenesis is a controversial issue. studies confirm that hepatocytes or cholangiocytes undergo EMT upon transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) stimulation, whereas experiments based on genetic fate mapping of specific cell populations suggest that EMT does not occur in fibrotic animal models. In this review we present current data supporting or opposing EMT in chronic liver disease and discuss conditions for the occurrence of EMT in patients.

Utility and safety of tolvaptan in cirrhotic patients with hyponatremia: A prospective cohort study.

Unlabelled: Introduction and aim. Hyponatremia is common in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and is associated with increased mortality. Tolvaptan, a vasopressor V2 receptor antagonist, can increase free water excretion, but its efficacy and safety in cirrhotic patients remain unclear.

Key role of hepatitis B virus mutation in chronic hepatitis B development to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The HBV mutations, which include point mutation, deletion, insertion and truncation mutation of HBV gene in 4 open reading frames (S, C, P, X), are closely associated with HCC pathogenesis. Some mutations accumulated during chronic HBV infection could be regarded as a biomarker to predict the occurrence of HCC.

Measurement of serum procalcitonin levels for the early diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.

Background: It is difficult to diagnose spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) early in decompensated liver cirrhotic ascites patients (DCPs). The aim of the study was to measure serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels and peripheral blood leukocyte/platelet (WBC/PLT) ratios to obtain an early diagnostic indication of SBP in DCPs.

Methods: Our cohort of 129 patients included 112 DCPs (94 of whom had infections) and 17 cases with compensated cirrhosis as controls.

Glypican-3 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through ERK signaling pathway.

Glypican-3 (GPC3), a membrane-associated heparan sulfate proteoglycan, is frequently upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, how GPC3 contributes to the progress of HCC is largely unclear. The present study investigated the association between GPC3 expression and HCC clinicopathological characteristics, and particularly focused on the role and underlying mechanisms of GPC3 in HCC epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Clinical efficacy of tolvaptan for treatment of refractory ascites in liver cirrhosis patients.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tolvaptan to treat refractory ascites in decompensated liver cirrhosis patients with or without further complications, such as hepatorenal syndrome and/or hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients (mean age 55 years, males: 32) with decompensated liver cirrhosis and refractory ascites were enrolled. All patients received a combination of tolvaptan (15 mg/d for 5-14 d) and diuretics (40-80 mg/d of furosemide and 80-160 mg/d of spironolactone).

Sensitive single-color fluorescence "off-on" switch system for dsDNA detection based on quantum dots-ruthenium assembling dyads.

Due to the high importance of detecting DNA with both fast speed and high sensitivity, we proposed a new dsDNA detection method relying on a novel single-color fluorescence "off-on" switch system. Water-soluble glutathione capped CdTe QDs (emission at 605 nm) was prepared for taking advantage of the readily tunable emission property of QDs. Initially, QDs was completely quenched by the Ru(phen)2(dppz)(2+), as the spontaneous formation of QDs-Ru assembling dyads.

Antiviral drug resistance increases hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective decompensated cirrhosis cohort study.

Aim: To study the clinical outcome of antiviral therapy in hepatitis B-related decompensated cirrhotic patients.

Methods: Three hundred and twelve patients with decompensated hepatitis B cirrhosis were evaluated in a prospective cohort. With two years of follow-up, 198 patients in the group receiving antiviral therapy with nucleos(t)ide analogues and 39 patients in the control group without antiviral treatment were analysed.

HBsAg loss is not an ideal indicator for discontinuing treatment of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B: a case report.

We experienced a case of a 36-year-old married man who was found to be hepatitis B virus (HBV) positive at 23 years of age. His liver function was repeatedly abnormal in the past 13 years. In November 2007 he presented with fatigue.

Liver transplantation in acute-on-chronic liver failure patients with high model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores: a single center experience of 100 consecutive cases.

Background: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a severe clinical condition for which liver transplantation (LT) is the only curative option. However, there are little published data on risk factors and outcomes of LT for ACLF.

Methods: The objective of this study was to analyze preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative, and overall survival data on 100 consecutive cases with ACLF in order to try to determine for which patients LT are futile.