Exploring Acute Liver Damage: Slimming Health Foods and CYP3A4 Induction.

Background: Patients taking multiple drugs and various health foods often develop acute hepatitis. We hypothesized that the interaction between health foods and drug metabolism was the cause of severe liver injury in these patients. Therefore, we studied changes in the activity of the drug-metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 (CYP), using slimming health food extracts and elucidated the molecular mechanism of liver injury onset through hepatotoxicity evaluation.

Effects of Zinc Acetate on Serum Zinc Concentrations in Chronic Liver Diseases: a Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial and a Dose Adjustment Trial.

The essential trace element zinc maintains liver functions. Liver diseases can alter overall zinc concentrations, and hypozincemia is associated with various hepatic pathologies. Modulating systemic zinc through dietary supplementation is potentially useful for liver diseases.

Ultrasound Assessment of Kidney Volume in Patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: A Predictor of Diuretic Resistance.

Background: Diuretics are essential for treating acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), but the response is inconsistent. This study aimed to clarify whether kidney volume as assessed by ultrasound (US) predicts diuretic resistance in patients with ADHF.

Methods: We enrolled 29 patients with ADHF and 32 controls.

[Compliance and problems with the surveillance program for HCC diagnosis].

We conducted a multicenter retrospective study for evaluating the background of and diagnostic opportunity for 651 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The etiologies were hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 20.0% of patients, hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 36.

Serum Procalcitonin in Patients with Acute Liver Failure.

Background: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a known diagnostic marker of bacterial infection. There are no previous reports of PCT concerning acute liver failure (ALF). We evaluated the clinical value of serum PCT levels in patients with ALF.

Falsely Elevated Serum Vitamin B Levels Were Associated with the Severity and Prognosis of Chronic Viral Liver Disease.

Background: Vitamin B is stored primarily in the liver, and highly elevated serum vitamin B levels occur in acute hepatitis and severe alcoholic liver disease. We evaluated the relationship between vitamin B levels and liver disease severity and long term prognosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Methods: We enrolled 90 patients (57 men, 33 women) with chronic viral hepatitis and cirrhosis who admitted to our hospital as a prospective cohort study.

Antifibrotic effects of ambrisentan, an endothelin-A receptor antagonist, in a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis mouse model.

Aim: To examine the effects of the endothelin type A receptor antagonist ambrisentan on hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in a steatohepatitis mouse model.

Methods: Fatty liver shionogi (FLS) FLS-ob/ob mice (male, 12 wk old) received ambrisentan (2.5 mg/kg orally per day; n = 8) or water as a control (n = 5) for 4 wk.

Renal shear wave velocity by acoustic radiation force impulse did not reflect advanced renal impairment.

Aim: Acoustic radiation force impulse is a noninvasive method for evaluating tissue elasticity on ultrasound. Renal shear wave velocity measured by this technique has not been fully investigated in patients with renal disease. The aim of the present study was to compare renal shear wave velocity in end-stage renal disease patients and that in patients without chronic kidney disease and to investigate influencing factors.

Left Renal Cortical Thickness Measured by Ultrasound Can Predict Early Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease.

Aims: The kidney becomes atrophic in advanced chronic kidney disease, and renal size and parenchymal volume correlate with renal function. However, alterations in renal parenchymal volume have not been adequately studied in terms of the renal cortex and medulla. We investigated the relationship between the changes in the renal cortex and medulla and renal function.

Clinical usefulness of the ablative margin assessed by magnetic resonance imaging with Gd-EOB-DTPA for radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of ablative margin (AM) grading by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with Gd-EOB-DTPA administered prior to radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and to identify factors for achieving a sufficient AM and predictors for local tumor progression.

Methods: A total of 124 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) were treated by RFA after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. MRI and enhanced CT were performed within seven hours and one month after RFA.

Rapid and early α-fetoprotein and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin responses to initial arterial infusion chemotherapy predict treatment outcomes of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

The aim of the present study was to predict the effects of transarterial infusion (TAI) chemotherapy based on early changes in α-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Seventy-four patients who underwent TAI with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin C and epirubicin for advanced HCC were enrolled. Antitumor responses were evaluated 6 months after TAI.

Isolated metastases of hepatocellular carcinoma in the right atrium: Case report and review of the literature.

The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical features of patients with isolated HCC metastases to the heart. A 66-year-old female hospitalized with a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranging from the right to the left lobe and with a tumor thrombus in the main portal vein, was treated with intraarterial cisplatin, 5-fluouracil, adriamycin and mitomycin. Computed tomography (CT) one month later revealed that the HCC had progressed with multiple lung metastases and moderate ascites.

Combined MEK and VEGFR inhibition in orthotopic human lung cancer models results in enhanced inhibition of tumor angiogenesis, growth, and metastasis.

Purpose: Ras/Raf/mitogen-activated protein-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK)/ERK signaling is critical for tumor cell proliferation and survival. Selumetinib is a potent, selective, and orally available MEK1/2 inhibitor. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of selumetinib alone or with cediranib, an orally available potent inhibitor of all three VEGF receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinases, in murine orthotopic non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) models.

Assessment of the ablated area after radiofrequency ablation by the spread of bubbles: comparison with virtual sonography with magnetic navigation.

Background/aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether bubble images after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) can predict the ablated area.

Methodology: The spread of bubbles 5 minutes after RFA were compared with the unenhanced area of virtual sonography with magnetic navigation in two RFA methods: expandable needle and cool-tip needle.

Results: Thirty-one hepatocellular carcinoma nodules were treated by RFA with either an expandable needle or cool-tip needle (n=14 and n=17, respectively) and examined.

Schistosomiasis japonica identified by laparoscopic and colonoscopic examination.

A 45-year-old Philippine woman who came from Mindanao Island was admitted to our hospital with a complaint of epigastric discomfort. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography demonstrated a network pattern and linear calcification in the liver. Laparoscopic examination showed numerous yellowish, small speckles over the liver surface.

Assessment of the ablated area after radiofrequency ablation by contrast-enhanced sonography; comparison with virtual sonography with magnetic navigation.

This study investigated whether contrast-enhanced sonography can accurately predict the ablated area by radiofrequency ablation using virtual sonography by computed tomography as a gold standard. Thirty-one hepatocellular carcinoma nodules were treated by radiofrequency ablation and then examined. The defect of contrast-enhanced sonography (puncture direction: r=.

Clinical efficacy of superfine dispersed lentinan (beta-1,3-glucan) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: Recently, complementary alternative medicine is actively performed for cancer therapy. We investigated the effectiveness of supplementary food containing superfine dispersed lentinan (beta-1,3-glucan) in patients with unresectable or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in a multi-center study.

Methodology: Peripheral blood was collected prior to the test food ingestion and was incubated with fluorescein-labeled lentinan.

[A case of splenic abscess in which percutaneous abscess drainage was an effective].

An eighty-six-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for bacterial septic shock due to splenic abscess. He had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention 3 weeks earlier. Percutaneous splenic abscess drainage was urgently performed under ultrasonography, and then the general state of the patient rapidly improved.

Nucleotide analogs for patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma increase the survival rate through improved liver function.

Background And Aim: This study evaluated the outcomes of antiviral therapy with nucleotide analogs for hepatitis B virus infection-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Thirty patients orally received nucleotide analogs and, as a matched control group, 20 patients who were not treated with nucleotide analogs were selected. We compared changes in liver function, HCC recurrence and survival rate between both groups.

Idiopathic intrahepatic arterioportal fistula treated by hepatectomy assisted by balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration: Report of an elderly case.

An 80-year-old woman with hepatic encephalopathy and esophagogastric varices was admitted. Doppler sonography and arteriography demonstrated an arterioportal fistula in the right anterior superior segment of the liver. Two attempts at transcatheter arterial embolization failed to manage the fistula and portacaval collaterals.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with sarcomatous change arising after eradication of HCV via interferon therapy.

A patient was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C at the age of 63 years. He achieved eradication of HCV via interferon (IFN). Eight years after, a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was detected and treated through transarterial embolization and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy.

Expression of oxidative stress-related molecules in circulating leukocytes and urine in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

Aims: Oxidative stress plays a role in pathogenesis of chronic viral hepatitis. Expression of oxidative stress-related molecules remains to be clarified.

Methods: 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (4-HHE), catalase, superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), glutathione peroxidase-1, thioredoxin (TRX) in leukocytes and urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were examined in 164 persons, including 130 chronic viral hepatitis patients and 34 normal individuals, by Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.

Percutaneous sonographically guided radiofrequency ablation with artificial pleural effusion for hepatocellular carcinoma located under the diaphragm.

Objective: Sonographically guided radiofrequency ablation is usually one of the most effective treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the localization of the tumor is a major limiting factor in the use of a sonographically guided procedure. In our experience, sonographic examination with artificial pleural effusion has improved the visualization of hepatocellular carcinomas under the diaphragm.

The influence on liver parenchymal function and complications of radiofrequency ablation or the combination with transcatheter arterial embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objectives: We investigated how radiofrequency ablation (RFA) alone or the combination with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE-RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) affects the liver parenchymal function of underlying chronic liver disease to find a predictive factor for selecting appropriate candidates for RFA. Methods: In 53 HCC patients (RFA alone, 25; TAE-RFA, 28), liver laboratory tests and development of complications were monitored until 6 months after treatments. Serum albumin deteriorated within 1 month and recovered after 6 months in both groups, whereas the elevation of the Pugh score continued in RFA alone group and that of serum bilirubin continued in TAE-RFA group until 6 months.

Qualitative assessment of tumor vascularity in hepatocellular carcinoma by contrast-enhanced coded ultrasound: comparison with arterial phase of dynamic CT and conventional color/power Doppler ultrasound.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detection rate of tumor vessels and vascularity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by contrast-enhanced coded US using Levovist, and to compare with conventional color/power Doppler US (CDUS) and dynamic CT. Ninety nodules (72 hypo/isoechoic nodules, 18 hyperechoic nodules) in 61 patients were studied. We observed tumor vessels by continuous transmission at the early vascular phase (40 s following administration of Levovist) and vascularity by intermittent transmission (intervals of 2-3 s) at the late vascular phase (40 to approximately 120 s).