Publications by authors named "Milkiewicz P"

Background And Aims: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterised by progressive biliary inflammation and fibrosis, leading to liver cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma. GPBAR1 (TGR5) is a G protein-coupled receptor for secondary bile acids. In this study, we have examined the therapeutic potential of BAR501, a selective GPBAR1 agonist in a PSC model.

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Introduction: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a biliary disorder associated with a high risk of end-stage liver disease and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Currently prediction of the unfavorable outcomes is hindered by the lack of valuable prognostic biomarkers.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of the autoantibodies in PSC and define their potential use as the predictors of progressive disease and CCA in a large, prospective cohort of PSC patients.

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Background And Aims: A limited number of drugs are used as standard or alternative therapies in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). No specific recommendations are available for patients failing to respond to these therapies. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of infliximab in patients with AIH.

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Introduction And Objectives: Autoimmune liver diseases (AILD) are rare causes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and data on the efficacy and tolerability of anti-tumor therapies are scarce. This pan-European study aimed to assess outcomes in AILD-HCC patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) compared with patients with more common HCC etiologies, including viral, alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Materials And Methods: 107 patients with HCC-AILD (AIH:55; PBC:52) treated at 13 European centres between 1996 and 2020 were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • Obeticholic acid (OCA) was evaluated in the COBALT trial for its effectiveness in treating primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), showing mixed results in the randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared to external controls.
  • In the RCT, similar rates of severe outcomes occurred between OCA and placebo groups, but issues like unblinding influenced the results; however, analysis adjustments gave OCA an advantage.
  • The external control group indicated that OCA significantly lowered the risk of negative outcomes, highlighting its potential benefits for patients with PBC and endorsing the use of real-world data in clinical research.
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Endosonography-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) serves as a rescue treatment modality for patients with malignant biliary obstruction when endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) fails. This study explores the effects of EUS-BD on liver function and quality of life (QoL). Patients with malignant biliary obstruction and failed ERCP were enrolled to undergo EUS-BD.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The R-LIVER registry, initiated by the European Reference Network on Hepatological Diseases, analyzed the presentation and outcomes of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in 231 patients across six European centers over a year.
  • - After 6 months, 50% of patients achieved complete biochemical response (CBR), with a rise to 63% by the 12-month mark, but only 27% managed to achieve this without steroids during the first year.
  • - Results indicate significant variability in AIH treatment, with many patients experiencing treatment changes due to intolerance, and highlight the need for improved strategies given the low CBR rates and challenges in steroid withdrawal.
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5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is a first-line treatment for maintaining colitis remission. It is a highly effective, safe, and well-tolerated drug with anti-inflammatory and chemo-preventive properties. While patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) with concomitant ulcerative colitis are treated with 5-ASA, the molecular mechanisms underlying the drug's chemo-preventive effects are not entirely understood.

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Background: Glycoprotein-2 (GP2) IgA is a predictor of disease severity in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). We examined GP2's occurrence in the biliary tract, the site of inflammation.

Methods: GP2 was analyzed using ELISA, immunoblotting, mass spectrometry, and immunohistochemistry.

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Background: Anti-glycoprotein 2 (anti-GP2) IgA and antineutrophil-cytoplasmic antibodies to proteinase 3 (PR3-ANCA) have been reported as predictive markers of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), but their prevalence in CCA patients without PSC remains unclear.

Methods: This study involved Asian discovery (n = 118) and European validation (n = 38) cohorts of CCA patients without PSC, alongside 49 Asian and 82 European pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients, 21 with benign pancreatic neoplasms (BPN) and 45 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and 157 healthy controls (HC) from Asia and Europe. We analyzed the prevalence of PR3-ANCA, IgA and IgG against GP2 and GP2, and the CA19-9 levels.

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Introduction: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic, progressive liver disease that, in most cases, may require lifelong immunosuppression. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute, typically self‑limited hepatitis worldwide, although immunocompromised patients may develop chronic hepatitis.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the impact of HEV seropositivity on the clinical course of AIH.

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Background: Gallstone disease (GD) is common but remains asymptomatic in most cases. However, gallstones can lead to complications like choledocholithiasis or gallbladder cancer. In this study, we analyse the common genetic risk factor for GD, the p.

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  • This study explored the relationship between type-I interferons (IFNs) and disease activity in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) using both a mouse model and human serum samples.
  • Elevated levels of bioactive type-I IFNs were found in both PSC patients and a specific mouse model, correlating with immune cell presence and liver enzyme levels, indicating potential severity of the disease.
  • The findings suggest that particularly high concentrations of IFNω may point to a new inflammatory pathway related to PSC's progression and underlying mechanisms.
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Despite decades of research, the pathogenesis of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is still not completely understood. Based on the evidence from preclinical models, one of the factors proposed as a main driver of disease development is oxidative stress. This study aimed to search for the resemblance between the profiles of oxidative stress and antioxidant defense in the animal model of MASLD and the group of MASLD patients.

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  • The study investigates the impact of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) on liver-related symptoms during pregnancy, highlighting a gap in pre-conception risk assessment and management guidelines.
  • A total of 450 patients were analyzed, revealing that 28.9% experienced worsened liver symptoms during pregnancy after PSC diagnosis, correlating with a decreased transplant-free survival rate.
  • It was also found that some women exhibited liver-related symptoms before PSC diagnosis, suggesting that pregnancy might trigger or uncover early signs of the disease.
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Sex-dependent patterns in chronic immune-mediated cholangiopathies, like primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), remain poorly understood. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α), expressed in immune cells, plays a key role in innate defence. In this study, the relationship between PPAR-α expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), serum androgen levels, IFNγ production, and sex-dependent tendencies during the development of PBC and PSC was investigated.

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Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is characterised by the co-occurrence of inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly ulcerative colitis (UC). We investigated how the interaction of miR-125b with the sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)/ceramide axis may predispose patients with PSC, PSC/UC, and UC to carcinogenesis in the ascending and sigmoid colons. The overexpression of miR-125b was accompanied by the upregulation of S1P, ceramide synthases, ceramide kinases, and the downregulation of AT-rich interaction domain 2 in the ascending colon of PSC/UC, which contributed to the progression of high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) colorectal carcinoma.

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  • * The study will involve 240 patients and compare the effectiveness of a structured peer-delivered psychosocial support intervention alongside usual care against usual care alone, measuring outcomes like mental health-related quality of life, depression, and social support.
  • * A mixed-methods evaluation will assess both effectiveness and implementation outcomes, incorporating surveys and focus groups to understand acceptability, feasibility, and the context of the intervention from the perspectives of patients, counselors, and healthcare providers.
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Background & Aims: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), heterogeneous biliary tumours with dismal prognosis, lacks accurate early diagnostic methods especially important for individuals at high-risk (i.e. those with primary sclerosing cholangitis [PSC]).

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Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has emerged as an important tool in the evaluation of both the well-being of patients and the results of their clinical management. Over the years, a large number of questionnaires focusing on various aspects of quality of life have been developed. They are frequently divided into generic questionnaires, which can be used under various conditions, disease-specific and symptom-specific questionnaires.

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  • * The study included 42 German and 143 Polish women with PCOS, alongside control groups, revealing that German participants had a higher severity of liver issues and specific genetic variants influenced liver stiffness in both cohorts differently.
  • * The findings suggest that FLD in women with PCOS is influenced by genetic and metabolic factors, indicating that genetic testing could help predict liver disease progression in these patients.
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Autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs), such as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), are classified as rare diseases, but their incidence is increasing. In this review, we present the characteristics of AILDs in adults, and mainly focus on their variants in terms of diagnosis and management. The classic AILDs have been well defined in clinical guidelines, but a proportion of patients with a single AILD tend to show features of other AILDs.

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The severity of hepatic steatosis is modulated by genetic variants, such as patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 () rs738409, transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 () rs58542926, and membrane-bound O-acyltransferase domain containing 7 () rs641738. Recently, mitochondrial amidoxime reducing component 1 () rs2642438 and hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 13 () rs72613567 polymorphisms were shown to have protective effects on liver diseases. Here, we evaluate these variants in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

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