aMAP score prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence and incidence-free rate after a sustained virologic response in chronic hepatitis C.

Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can still occur in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who have achieved a sustained virologic response (SVR), which remains an important clinical issue in the direct-acting antivirals era. The current study investigated the clinical utility of the aMAP score (consisting of age, male, albumin-bilirubin, and platelets) for predicting HCC occurrence in HCV patients achieving an SVR by direct-acting antivirals.

Methods: A total of 1113 HCV patients without HCC history, all of whom achieved an SVR, were enrolled for clinical comparisons.

Effectiveness of Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir for Hepatitis C: Real-World Experience and Clinical Features of Retreatment Cases.

Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P) are direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We investigated G/P effectiveness for HCV patients based on real-world experience and the clinical features of retreatment cases. HCV patients (n = 182) were compared for clinical features and outcomes between first treatment (n = 159) and retreatment (n = 23) G/P groups.

Past history of hepatocellular carcinoma is an independent risk factor of treatment failure in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection receiving direct-acting antivirals.

Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment can achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection regardless of a history of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC [+]). We examined 838 patients (370 men, median age: 69 years) who were treated with DAAs for comparisons of clinical findings between 79 HCC (+) (9.4%) and 759 HCC (-) (90.

[A successful treatment of percutaneous radio frequency ablation for advanced thyroid cancer].

The patient was a 69-year-old woman. She received chemotherapy and radiation for thyroid tumor (undifferentiated cancer) following an operation in 1998. The chemotherapy was regularly repeated for relapse.

Etiology and prognosis of cryptogenic liver cirrhosis: possible contribution of hepatitis B virus.

Three female patients without type B or type C viral hepatitis, alcoholic, metabolic or autoimmune liver disease, were selected from 250 cases with histologically proven liver cirrhosis (M:F = 183:67). All three cases showed at least one positive aspect among three parameters of serum anti-HBc (RPHA, x1), HBV-DNA (gene S, nested PCR) and liver HBs and/or pre-S2 antigen (immunoperoxidase methods). Two cases may suggest a spontaneous disappearance of HBV from sera.

Increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-II in experimental liver fibrosis in rats.

Matrix metalloproteinase-II (MMP-II, 72-kd type IV collagenase, or gelatinase) is one of the gene families of zinc enzymes capable of degrading extracellular matrix molecules, and specifically of degrading type IV and V collagens, gelatin, fibronectin, and elastin. In this study, we used both the liver fibrosis model and the reversibility model of experimental cirrhosis to clarify how MMP-II participates in liver fibrosis of rats. To produce fibrosis model, rats received subcutaneous injections of CCl4 twice weekly for 7, 9, or 14 weeks.

Analyses of proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells in hepatocellular carcinoma: comparisons with clinical findings.

Proliferating tumour cells in 92 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were identified by an immunohistochemical method using a monoclonal antibody against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The rate of PCNA-positive cells in HCC tissues was positively correlated with histological grade and the tumour size and T factor of the tumour. In order to analyse the relationship between prognostic factors and cumulative survival rate after obtaining tumour specimens, 49 patients whose clinical courses could be followed after needle biopsy were selected for evaluation.

Effects of an infusion of branched-chain amino acids on neurophysiological and psychometric testings in cirrhotic patients with mild hepatic encephalopathy.

Psychotropic action of a branched-chain-enriched amino acid solution (Aminoleban) was quantitatively and visually examined in six cirrhotic patients with mild hepatic encephalopathy (grades I and II) using electrophysiological and psychometric methods. Neurophysiological effects of the amino acid solution were observed by comparing topographic spectrum analyses of electroencephalography (EEG) before and immediately after an intravenous 3 h infusion of the solution. The delta wave in the frontal region diminished from 61 +/- 13 to 12 +/- 4% (P < 0.

Hepatocellular carcinoma in 13 patients with hepatitis C virus-associated chronic hepatitis.

Thirteen of 81 patients with chronic hepatitis and positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody developed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during a follow-up period of 54 +/- 38 months. The histopathological findings in HCC-bearing liver in these patients included six cases of chronic persistent hepatitis [CPH; mean hepatitis activity index (HAI) score: 5.8] and seven cases of chronic aggressive hepatitis (CAH) 2A, or 2B (HAI) score: 13.

Extracellular matrix formation in piecemeal necrosis: immunoelectron microscopic study.

Immunolocalization of Type I, Type III and Type IV collagens, laminin and prolyl hydroxylase (PH), a key enzyme in collagen synthesis, was examined to clarify the fibrotic process in chronic, active liver disease. In piecemeal necrosis of chronic, active hepatitis (CAH) and active liver cirrhosis (LC), fat-storing cells (FSCs) and transitional cells (TSCs), containing abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), were increased in number and stained intensely for PH. Immunodeposits of extracellular matrix (ECM) components were found in the RER, Golgi apparatus (GA) and vesicles of these cells, especially in cases with marked inflammation.

Evaluation of transcatheter arterial embolization with epirubicin-lipiodol emulsion for hepatocellular carcinoma.

A total of 18 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were treated by transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) with a 4'-epi-doxorubicin (EDX)-lipiodol emulsion. Infusion of the EDX-lipiodol emulsion (EDX-L) via the hepatic artery was followed by the injection of gelatin sponge in 12 cases. The response and survival of these 12 patients following EDX-L treatment were compared with those of 42 subjects treated with a doxorubicin-lipiodol emulsion (DX-L) and those of 23 patients treated by TAE with gelatin sponge (GS) only.

Ultrastructural localization of type IV collagen and laminin in the Disse space of rat liver with carbon tetrachloride induced fibrosis.

Monospecific antibodies, directed against type IV collagen and laminin, were used to clarify the process of sinusoidal capillarization in rats after carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) intoxication by the direct immunoperoxidase method. After acute intoxication, both type IV collagen and laminin were increased in the area of hepatic necrosis, adjacent to the central veins; however, sinusoidal capillarization was not found. During chronic intoxication, deposition of laminin was co-distributed with that of type IV collagen, but deposition proceeded more slowly than that of the type IV collagen.

Subcellular abnormalities of liver sinusoidal lesions in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Liver sinusoidal lesions in 20 cases of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were examined with the electron microscope. Kupffer cells existed in the compact type of HCC. In area with pseudoglandular and trabecular cell patterns, Kupffer cells could not be observed.

Collagen production in fat-storing cells after carbon tetrachloride intoxication in the rat. Immunoelectron microscopic observation of type I, type III collagens, and prolyl hydroxylase.

Monospecific antibodies directed against type I, type III collagens, and prolyl hydroxylase were used to clarify the process of liver fibrosis after CCl4 intoxication in rats by the direct immunoperoxidase method. In acute CCl4 intoxication, fat-storing cells (FSCs) were increased in number in the areas of necrosis around the central veins. These FSCs exhibited intense positive stainings for type I, type III collagens, and prolyl hydroxylase in well-developed rough endoplasmic reticula and Golgi apparatus.

Ultrastructural localization of type IV collagen, laminin and prolyl hydroxylase in biliary epithelial cells of rat liver following ligation of the common bile duct.

Type IV collagen and laminin are major components of basement membrane (BM), whereas prolyl hydroxylase (PH) is a key enzyme in the hydroxylation of proline to hydroxyproline in collagen synthesis. In order to elucidate the exact mechanism of the formation of BM, immune electron microscopic observation of type IV collagen, laminin and PH was made in rat liver with marked proliferation of bile ducts following ligation of the common bile duct. Extracellular localization of type IV collagen was found in the BM of bile ducts and blood vessels and in the space of Disse in both normal rat liver and the liver of rats undergoing operation.