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.

Association of liver fibrosis with extrahepatic cancer in steatotic liver disease patients with PNPLA3 I148M GG genotype.

The impacts of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) I148M-rs738409, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) Ala222Val-rs1801133, and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) Glu504Lys-rs671 on the outcomes of Taiwanese patients with steatotic liver disease (SLD) have remained elusive. An 8-year prospective cohort study of patients with (n = 546) and without (n = 580) SLD (controls) was undertaken in a Taiwanese tertiary care center. The 546 SLD patients comprised 306 (56.

Steatosis Quantification on Ultrasound Images by a Deep Learning Algorithm on Patients Undergoing Weight Changes.

Introduction: A deep learning algorithm to quantify steatosis from ultrasound images may change a subjective diagnosis to objective quantification. We evaluate this algorithm in patients with weight changes.

Materials And Methods: Patients (N = 101) who experienced weight changes ≥ 5% were selected for the study, using serial ultrasound studies retrospectively collected from 2013 to 2021.

Acoustic radiation force impulse predicts long-term outcomes in a large-scale cohort: High liver cancer, low comorbidity in hepatitis B virus.

Background: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) is used to measure liver fibrosis and predict outcomes. The performance of elastography in assessment of fibrosis is poorer in hepatitis B virus (HBV) than in other etiologies of chronic liver disease.

Aim: To evaluate the performance of ARFI in long-term outcome prediction among different etiologies of chronic liver disease.

Hepatitis B virus persistent infection-related single nucleotide polymorphisms in HLA regions are associated with viral load in hepatoma families.

Background: Genome-wide association studies from Asia indicate that HLA-DP and HLA-DQ loci are important in persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. One of the key elements for HBV-related carcinogenesis is persistent viral replication and inflammation.

Aim: To examine genetic and nongenetic factors with persistent HBV infection and viral load in families with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Cutoff Values of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Two-Location Measurements in Different Etiologies of Liver Fibrosis.

Background: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging is a popular modality to measure liver fibrosis. ARFI selects optimal locations for measurement under imaging guiding. However, there are concerns on study locations and observers bias.

Effects of sex and generation on hepatitis B viral load in families with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To explore factors associated with persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in a cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-affected families and then investigate factors that correlate with individual viral load among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive relatives.

Methods: We evaluated non-genetic factors associated with HBV replication in relatives of patients with HCC. Relatives of 355 HCC cases were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.

Pregnancy and HIV disease progression during the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Before the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), there was no clear effect of pregnancy on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression. This has not been assessed during the HAART era.

Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study among HIV-infected women with >or=1 outpatient clinic visit between January 1997 and December 2004.

Rotavirus vaccination and intussusception: can we decrease temporally associated background cases of intussusception by restricting the vaccination schedule?

Objective: The first rotavirus vaccine that was licensed in the United States, RotaShield, could have prevented the enormous burden of rotavirus diarrhea in American children but left instead the unfortunate legacy that live oral rotavirus vaccines may be associated with a serious but rare adverse event: intussusception. Although large trials indicate that the next generation of rotavirus vaccines is not associated with this complication, many children likely will develop intussusception by chance alone in the 2-week window after immunization, raising concerns about whether these cases might be "caused" by the vaccine. Our objective for this study was to model and compare the number of temporally associated intussusception events that are expected by chance alone under 2 rotavirus vaccination strategies.

Prevalence of reovirus-specific antibodies in young children in Nashville, Tennessee.

Although reovirus infections are thought to be common in adults, there have been few assessments of the seroprevalence of reovirus in young children. We developed an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure levels of total antireovirus immunoglobulin A, G, and M in serum specimens collected from otherwise healthy infants and children (1 month to 5 years of age) in Nashville, Tennessee. Of the 272 serum specimens evaluated, 64 (23.

Development of a rapid method using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification for the detection of astrovirus.

We have developed a rapid method to detect astrovirus in fecal specimens utilizing nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) and several detection methodologies, including a sandwich hybridization assay based on DNA-tagged liposomes (liposome-strip detection assay). RNA was extracted from 65 stool specimens that were positive for astrovirus by enzyme immunoassay and was amplified by both NASBA and reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). Also extracted and amplified were 19 specimens containing rotavirus, 20 specimens containing norovirus, five specimens containing adenovirus, 15 water negative control specimens, and eight specimens containing astrovirus reference strains.