Emricasan for the treatment of liver cirrhosis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Introduction: The efficacy of emricasan for liver cirrhosis remains controversial. We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the influence of emricasan versus placebo on the treatment of liver cirrhosis.

Methods: We have searched PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases through August 2021 and included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of emricasan versus placebo for liver cirrhosis.

Rescuing Dicer expression in inflamed colon tissues alleviates colitis and prevents colitis-associated tumorigenesis.

Chronic inflammation is known to promote carcinogenesis; Dicer heterozygous mice are more likely to develop colitis-associated tumors. This study investigates whether Dicer is downregulated in inflamed colon tissues before malignancy occurs and whether increasing Dicer expression in inflamed colon tissues can alleviate colitis and prevent colitis-associated tumorigenesis. : Gene expression in colon tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, immunoblots, and real-time RT-PCR.

[HBsAg regulation of miR-31 expression in HepG2 cells].

Objective: To investigate the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) on microRNA-31 (miR-31) expression in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG2 hepatoma cells.

Methods: Stable HBsAg-overexpressing cell lines were established by transfecting HepG2 cells with an HBsAg-bearing mammalian expression vector, and the clones (designated as HepG2-H2 cells) were validated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry. Effects on expression of miR-31 were determined by measuring the mRNA level by real-time PCR and performing statistical comparisons with levels detected in HepG2-H0 cells (stably transfected with empty vector) and HepG2.