Prognostic Performance of SOFA, qSOFA, and SIRS in Kidney Transplant Recipients Suffering from Infection: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Introduction: The prognostic performance of scoring systems for illness severity in infectious kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is rarely reported. We investigated the ability of the scores for the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) to predict in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and mechanical ventilation (MV) requirement.

Methods: This was a second analysis of a retrospective observational study.

Efficacy and safety of combined directly acting antivirals for treatment of Chinese chronic hepatitis C patients in a real-world setting.

Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of combined directly acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of Chinese chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients in a real-world setting.

Methods: Hospitalized CHC patients who were treated with DAAs at Peking University First Hospital between January 2015 and December 2016 were enrolled. Samples and clinical data were collected at 0 wk, 2 wk, 4 wk, 8 wk, 12 wk, or 24 wk during DAAs treatment and at 4 wk, 12 wk, and 24 wk after the end of treatment.

Dynamic Characteristics of Serum Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Chinese Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Receiving 7 Years of Entecavir Therapy.

Background: The ultimate goal of hepatitis B treatment is hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. Several factors have been suggested to be associated with the rate of HBsAg reduction in antiviral-naive or lamivudine therapy cohorts. However, there are few studies evaluating the factors during long-term entecavir (ETV) therapy.

Dynamics of Genotypic Mutations of the Hepatitis B Virus Associated With Long-Term Entecavir Treatment Determined With Ultradeep Pyrosequencing: A Retrospective Observational Study.

The aim of the study is to explore the evolution of genotypic mutations within the reverse transcriptase region in partial virological responders (PVRs) receiving long-term entecavir (ETV) treatment. A total of 32 patients were classified as completely virological responders (CVRs) (n = 12) or PVRs (n = 20). Five partial responders were hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA positive after long-term therapy, which lasted for >3 years.

Dynamic mitral annular motion after posterior mitral annuloplasty: Use of a strip that is designed for placement in the posterior annulus.

Background: Most annuloplasty rings and bands used for mitral valve repair restrict annular motion due to their fixation to the posterior annulus, the commissures, and the trigones.

Objective: Annular motion was evaluated after posterior mitral annuloplasty (PMA) for correction of mitral valve regurgitation (MR) using a strip that is designed for placement in the posterior annulus only, sparing the anterior annulus and both commissural angles.

Methods: Valve annular dynamics were analyzed in 51 patients who underwent PMA for MR.

Dysregulation of non-coding RNAs in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers in the world and a significant threat to the health of patients, especially those from China and Japan. The prognosis for patients with late stage GC receiving the standard of care treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, remains poor. Developing novel treatment strategies, identifying new molecules for targeted therapy, and devising screening techniques to detect this cancer in its early stages are needed for GC patients.

Thyroid dysfunction in Chinese hepatitis C patients: Prevalence and correlation with TPOAb and CXCL10.

Aim: To investigate the relationship among pretreatment serum CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) levels and thyroid dysfunction (TD) in Chinese hepatitis C patients.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine treatment-naive genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients with no history of TD or treatment with thyroid hormones were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin (PegIFNα-2a/RBV) treatment for 48 wk, followed by detection of clinical factors at each follow-up point.

Role of C6ORF120, an N-glycosylated protein, is implicated in apoptosis of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes.

Background: Although CD4(+) T cell apoptosis and CD8(+) T cell responses have been extensively studied during HIV infection, how apoptosis signals being initiated in CD4(+) T cells still need to be elucidated. The present study was designed to characterize the function-unknown gene, C6orf120, and elucidates its primary role in tunicamycin-induced CD4(+) T apoptosis.

Methods: The C6orf120 coding sequence was amplified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) total RNA of AIDS patients.