Investigating the efficacy of acupuncture in treating patients with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease: a protocol for a randomised controlled clinical trial.

Introduction: Acupuncture is widely used for metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) treatment; however, the clinical efficacy has not been confirmed due to the lack of high-level evidence-based clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to design a research protocol that will be used to determine the efficacy of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture (SHA) for MAFLD treatment.

Methods And Analysis: This will be a multicentre, randomised and sham-controlled trial.

Ba-Qi-Rougan formula alleviates hepatic fibrosis by suppressing hepatic stellate cell activation via the MSMP/CCR2/PI3K pathway.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The Ba-Qi-Rougan formula (BQRGF) is a traditional and effective compound prescription from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) utilized in treating hepatic fibrosis (HF).

Aim Of The Study: We aimed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of BQRGF on HF and explore the underlying mechanisms of action.

Materials And Methods: UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technology was employed to identify the material basis of BQRGF.

Bufalin suppresses hepatocellular carcinogenesis by targeting M2 macrophage-governed Wnt1/β-catenin signaling.

Background: The interplay of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor cells plays a key role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and provides an important target for HCC therapy. The communication between them is still on the investigation. Bufalin, the active component derived from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Chansu, has been evidenced to possess anti-HCC activity by directly suppressing tumor cells, while its immunomodulatory effect on the tumor microenvironment (TME) is unclear.

Integrating bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing data to establish necroptosis-related lncRNA risk model and analyze the immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The increasing evidence suggests that necroptosis mediates many behaviors of tumors, as well as the regulation of the tumor microenvironment. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in a variety of regulatory processes during tumor development and are significantly associated with patient prognosis. It suggests that necroptosis-related lncRNAs (NRlncRNAs) may serve as biomarkers for the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

A diagnostic model of autoimmune hepatitis in unknown liver injury based on noninvasive clinical data.

All the diagnostic criteria of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) include histopathology. However, some patients may delay getting this examination due to concerns about the risks of liver biopsy. Therefore, we aimed to develop a predictive model of AIH diagnostic that does not require a liver biopsy.

Mechanism of Follicular Helper T Cell Differentiation Regulated by Transcription Factors.

Helping B cells and antibody responses is a major function of CD4T helper cells. Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are identified as a subset of CD4T helper cells, which is specialized in helping B cells in the germinal center reaction. Tfh cells express high levels of CXCR5, PD-1, IL-21, and other characteristic markers.

Evaluation of Myocardial Stiffness in Hypertensive Patients by Intrinsic Wave Propagation of the Myocardial Stretch.

The objective of the study was to evaluate myocardial stiffness in hypertensive patients by measuring the intrinsic velocity propagation (IVP) of the myocardial stretch and to explore the correlation between IVP and cardiac systolic and diastolic functions. Eighty-one hypertensive patients and 53 healthy patients were prospectively enrolled in this study. IVP was measured using high-frame rate tissue Doppler (350-450 frames per second).

Bufalin inhibits hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma development through androgen receptor dephosphorylation and cell cycle-related kinase degradation.

Purpose: Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which has a male predominance, lacks effective therapeutic options. Previously, the cardiac glycoside analogue bufalin has been found to inhibit HBV infection and HCC development. As yet, however, its molecular role in HBV-associated HCC has remained obscure.

Androgen receptor drives hepatocellular carcinogenesis by activating enhancer of zeste homolog 2-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Background: Androgen receptor (AR) plays a crucial role as a transcription factor in promoting the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which is prone to aberrant chromatin modifications. However, the regulatory effects of AR on epigenetic mediators in HCC remain ill-defined. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), an oncogene responsible for the tri-methylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3), was identified to be overexpressed in approximate 70-90% of HCC cases, which prompted us to investigate whether or how AR regulates EZH2 expression.

Bufalin suppresses hepatocarcinogenesis by targeting β-catenin/TCF signaling via cell cycle-related kinase.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive malignant tumors, of which treatment options are limited especially in advanced stage. Bufalin, the major digoxin-like component of the traditional Chinese medicine Chansu, exhibits significant antitumor activities in hepatoma cells, but the potential mechanism is obscure. Cell cycle-related kinase (CCRK) is recently identified to be a crucial oncogenic master regulator to drive hepatocarcinogenesis.

[Study of xiaozhang recipe combined with lamivudine in treatment of 84 chronic viral hepatitis B patients with compensated liver cirrhosis].

Objective: To assess the clinical efficacy of Xiaozhang Recipe (XR) in treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B patients with compensated liver cirrhosis.

Methods: Based on the anti-viral effects of lamivudine, 84 chronic viral hepatitis B patients with compensated liver cirrhosis were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group. Patients in the treatment group were treated with XR (consisting of heterophylla falsestarwort root, large head atractylodes rhizome, tangerine peel, green tangerine peel, water-plantain tuber, bugleweed herb, turtle shell, oyster shell, chicken's gizzard-skin endothelium, areca peel, decocted, one dose daily, twice daily).