Albumin-bilirubin score as a useful predictor of energy malnutrition in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Chronic liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), lead to an imbalance in energy metabolism. The non-protein respiratory quotient (npRQ), which estimates energy malnutrition, can be evaluated using an indirect calorimeter; however, npRQ measurement is limited in routine work. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score and npRQ in patients with HCC.

Early Predictors of Objective Response in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Lenvatinib Treatment.

There are limited reports regarding early predictors of objective response (OR) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with lenvatinib. This retrospective study including 70 patients aimed to investigate the efficacy of hepatic biochemical markers. Changes in tumor marker (alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)/des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP)) levels and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score between the baseline value and that estimated one month after treatment were evaluated.

Novel Liquid Biopsy Test Based on a Sensitive Methylated Assay for Diagnosing Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Liquid biopsies are not used in practice for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Epi proColon is the first commercial blood-based test for colorectal cancer screening based on methylated DNA testing of the septin 9 gene (). However, Epi proColon has some disadvantages, including the requirement of a large amount of blood and lack of quantitative performance.

Complications after Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study Involving 9,411 Japanese Patients.

Introduction: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered a safe and minimally invasive procedure. We previously reported that the mortality and complication rates for RFA were 0.038% (5/13,283 patients) and 3.

Effect of body composition on survival benefit of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: A comparison with sorafenib therapy.

Aim: Sorafenib is used as a first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has also gained acceptance, but only in Japan. We explored the role of body composition as a factor affecting the survival benefit of HAIC compared to sorafenib for the treatment of advanced HCC.

No Muscle Depletion with High Visceral Fat as a Novel Beneficial Biomarker of Sorafenib for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Sorafenib is a standard therapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, no predictive biomarkers of sorafenib efficacy have been discovered. Herein, we investigated the impact of body composition, such as skeletal muscle and visceral fat, on the prognosis of advanced HCC patients treated with sorafenib.

Nanotube-structured NaVO as a Cathode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries with High-rate and Stable Cycle Performances.

Sodium ion batteries meet the demand for large-scale energy storage, such as in electric vehicles, due to the material abundance of sodium. In this report, nanotube-type NaVO is proposed as a cathode material because of its fast sodium diffusivity, an important requirement for sodium ion batteries, through the investigation of ~4300 candidates via a high-throughput computation. High-rate performance was confirmed, showing ~65% capacity retention at a current density of 10C at room temperature, despite the large particle size of >5 μm.

Analysis of tolvaptan non-responders and outcomes of tolvaptan treatment of ascites.

Background And Aim: The goals of the study were to identify an effective treatment for ascites and to examine the influence of tolvaptan on outcomes by investigating non-responders to tolvaptan and comparing outcomes of hepatic cirrhosis in patients treated with and without tolvaptan.

Methods: In Study 1, of 145 patients with hepatic cirrhosis who were treated with tolvaptan between September 2013 and March 2018, 45 who did not achieve weight loss of ≥1.5 kg within one week were investigated.

Treatment strategies for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Sorafenib hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy.

Sorafenib is used worldwide as a first-line standard systemic agent for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on the basis of the results of two large-scale Phase III trials. Conversely, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is one of the most recommended treatments in Japan. Although there have been no randomized controlled trials comparing sorafenib with HAIC, several retrospective analyses have shown no significant differences in survival between the two therapies.

Liver stiffness measured by transient elastography as predictor of prognoses following portosystemic shunt occlusion.

Background And Aim: This study aimed to identify predictors of model for end-stage liver disease sodium score reductions and improvements in vital prognoses following portosystemic shunt occlusion in portal hypertension patients.

Methods: Seventy cirrhotic patients with major portosystemic shunts and a mean model for end-stage liver disease sodium score of 10.5 underwent balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration between February 2008 and March 2017.

Comparison of patients with hepatic encephalopathy and those with gastric varices before and after balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration.

Aim: To compare the clinical characteristics of patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and those with gastric varices (GV) before and after balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO).

Methods: Eighty cirrhotic patients who underwent BRTO, including 42 men and 38 women, and whose mean age was 68 years, comprised the HE (n = 18) and GV (n = 62) groups. The patients' data before and 1 month after BRTO were analyzed.

Hemobilia immediately after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization using drug-eluting beads for hepatocellular carcinoma with intrahepatic bile duct invasion.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is used as a palliative treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Recently, a novel drug delivery-embolic agent, the drug-eluting bead (DEB), was introduced for TACE. There are a few reports of tumor hemorrhage after TACE using DEB (DEB-TACE) for HCC.

Evaluation of the "assessment for continuous treatment with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy" scoring system in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: Sorafenib is the recommended standard of care for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. However, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is a treatment option in Asia. We recently developed the assessment for continuous treatment with HAIC (ACTH) score to guide decision-making for continuous HAIC treatment.

Effects of an oral iron chelator, deferasirox, on advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To evaluate the inhibitory effects of deferasirox (DFX) against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through basic and clinical studies.

Methods: In the basic study, the effect of DFX was investigated in three hepatoma cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B, and Huh7), as well as in an N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced murine HCC model. In the clinical study, six advanced HCC patients refractory to chemotherapy were enrolled.

Predictors of the Effect of Tolvaptan on the Prognosis of Cirrhosis.

Objective Tolvaptan was first approved for use for cirrhosis in Japan in September 2013. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of tolvaptan, a vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist, on the prognosis of cirrhosis. Methods The effect of tolvaptan was evaluated in 26 patients with cirrhosis treated at our hospital from September 2013 to April 2015.

[Considerations of drug therapy for older patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease].

Older patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease are prone to severe. Therefore, it is often required long-term treatment of proton pump inhibitors, attention is also required.

Effect of textured eye drop bottles on the photostability of pranoprofen 0.1% ophthalmic solution.

Context: Ophthalmic solutions are usually filled in a plastic bottle due to its durability and disposability. In Japan, photostability is one of the concerns for the quality control because an eye drop bottle must be a transparent container.

Objective: The present work studied the effect of textured eye drop bottles on its light blocking to improve the photostability of ophthalmic solutions.

Timeline for development of autologous bone marrow infusion (ABMi) therapy and perspective for future stem cell therapy.

Liver cirrhosis patients generally progress to liver failure. To cure this progressive disease, we developed a novel cell therapy using bone marrow cells; autologous bone marrow cell infusion (ABMi) therapy. We previously described the possible action mechanism of ABMi therapy in the cirrhotic liver, and showed the timeline and results of clinical studies of ABMi therapy.

Autologous bone marrow cell infusions suppress tumor initiation in hepatocarcinogenic mice with liver cirrhosis.

We have previously reported the efficacy and safety of autologous bone marrow cell infusion (ABMi) therapy for liver cirrhosis patients without hepatocellular carcinoma in a multicenter clinical trial. However, since liver cirrhosis is highly oncogenic, evaluation of the effects of ABMi on the mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis is of great importance. Therefore, frequent ABMi was performed in hepatocarcinogenic mice, and its effects on hepatocarcinogenesis were analyzed.

Effect of transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy using iodized oil and degradable starch microspheres for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy (TAI) using a combination of iodized oil (lipiodol) and degradable starch microspheres (DSMs) has been reported to be superior to TAI with either lipiodol or DSMs separately for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), based on the results of a prospective randomized study. In the study reported here, we investigated the predictors influencing response and survival in HCC patients receiving TAI using lipiodol and DSMs.

Methods: A total of 50 HCC patients [Child-Pugh A/B, 34/16 patients; maximum tumor size 2.

Suppressive effects of peptide antibiotics against proliferation and cytokine production in mitogen-activated human peripheral-blood mononuclear cells.

Certain kinds of peptide antibiotics are suggested to have immunomodulatory effects; however, few studies have been carried out systemically to evaluate the antiproliferative effects of peptide antibiotics in human lymphoid cells. The suppressive efficacies of nine peptide antibiotics and seven non-antibiotic peptides against proliferation of human peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated with T cell mitogen were examined in vitro. Nigericin (CAS 28643-80-3), valinomycin (CAS 2001-95-8), gramicidin D (CAS 1405-97-6), and tyrothricin (CAS 1404-88-2) strongly inhibited the proliferation of concanavalin A-stimulated PBMCs with IC50 values of 0.

Azithromycin suppresses proliferation, interleukin production and mitogen-activated protein kinases in human peripheral-blood mononuclear cells stimulated with bacterial superantigen.

Objectives: Macrolide antibiotics are used for the treatment of immunological disorders such as psoriasis. However, few studies have investigated the immunoregulatory efficacy of macrolides in bacterial superantigen-stimulated immune cells.

Methods: The suppressive efficacies of azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin and prednisolone were evaluated in vitro against the concanavalin A- or toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1)-induced proliferation of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from nine healthy subjects.