Reproductive and pregnancy control in Wilson disease patients in Spain.

Background And Aim: Recommendations on pregnancy, lactation, and contraception in women with Wilson disease are briefly stated in international guidelines but are not entirely homogeneous. Data regarding the management of these special events among patients with Wilson disease in Spain are lacking. We used the Wilson Registry platform of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver to question patients on their reproductive and gestational lives.

Response of Bacillus velezensis 83 to interaction with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides resembles a Greek phalanx-style formation: A stress resistant phenotype with antibiosis capacity.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, such as Bacillus spp., establish beneficial associations with plants and may inhibit the growth of phytopathogenic fungi. However, these bacteria are subject to multiple biotic stimuli from their competitors, causing stress and modifying their development.

Spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma on non-cirrhotic liver: A prospective case series.

Background And Aims: Spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma is an uncommon complication, and there are scarce data about non-cirrhotic patients. Tumor treatment is not standardized and the risk of peritoneal dissemination is unclear.

Aim: we analyzed the treatment and survival in patients with rHCC on non-cirrhotic liver.

Effective treatment of autoimmune hepatitis-primary biliary cholangitis overlap syndrome with obeticholic acid.

There is no consensus treatment for patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) - primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) overlap syndrome who are not responding to conventional therapy. We present a case of a 43-yr-old woman with AIH-PBC overlap syndrome treated with obeticholic acid (OCA). The patient showed a reduction in liver enzymes and no fibrosis progression during 15 months of follow up.

Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of the venom and venom glands of Centruroides hirsutipalpus, a dangerous scorpion from Mexico.

Centruroides hirsutipalpus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) is related to the "striped scorpion" group inhabiting the western Pacific region of Mexico. Human accidents caused by this species are medically important due to the great number of people stung and the severity of the resulting intoxication. This communication reports an extensive venom characterization using high-throughput proteomic and Illumina transcriptomic sequencing performed with RNA purified from its venom glands.

Characteristics and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic liver.

Introduction: the characteristics, screening, and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for patients without cirrhosis have not been fully studied.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in non-cirrhotic patients with histological HCC, between January 2004 and October 2018. Their characteristics, treatment, follow-up and overall survival were described.

Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Reveal the Diversity of Venom Components from the Vaejovid Scorpion .

To understand the diversity of scorpion venom, RNA from venomous glands from a sawfinger scorpion, , of the family Vaejovidae, was extracted and used for transcriptomic analysis. A total of 84,835 transcripts were assembled after Illumina sequencing. From those, 119 transcripts were annotated and found to putatively code for peptides or proteins that share sequence similarities with the previously reported venom components of other species.

Hepatitis B virus e antigen-negative chronic infection. Treatment based on glutamic pyruvic transaminase and hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid cut-off values.

Objectives: To identify glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA) cut-off values at diagnosis in patients with hepatitis B virus e antigen-negative chronic infection (HBeAg(-)), which may be predictors of clinical course, prognosis and/or the need for antiviral therapy.

Methods: A retrospective and observational cohort study of patients diagnosed with HBeAg(-) chronic infection (2005-2012). A normal GPT cut-off value at diagnosis that predicts abnormal GPT values in the clinical course of the infection, a baseline HBV-DNA cut-off value that predicts an increase in HBV-DNA above 2,000IU/ml, and GPT and HBV-DNA as predictors of the need for treatment were investigated using ROC curves.

Vascular diseases of the liver. Clinical Guidelines from the Catalan Society of Digestology and the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver.

Despite their relatively low prevalence, vascular diseases of the liver represent a significant health problem in the field of liver disease. A common characteristic shared by many such diseases is their propensity to cause portal hypertension together with increased morbidity and mortality. These diseases are often diagnosed in young patients and their delayed diagnosis and/or inappropriate treatment can greatly reduce life expectancy.

Characteristics and course of chronic hepatitis B e antigen-negative infection.

Objective: To describe the epidemiological, analytical and histological characteristics and clinical course of hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers with negative HBe antigen.

Material And Methods: Observational, retrospective cohort study of HBV carriers with negative HBe antigen (2005-2012), with no other causes of liver disease.

Results: One hundred and thirty-eight patients were included, with mean age 40.

Comprehensive analysis of venom from the scorpion Centruroides tecomanus reveals compounds with antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and insecticidal activities.

Centruroides tecomanus is a medically important scorpion of the state of Colima (Mexico). This communication reports the identification of venom components of this scorpion with biological activity over insects/crickets (Acheta domestica), crustaceans/fresh water shrimps (Cambarellus montezumae), and mammalians/mice (Mus musculus, strain CD1). It also describes the pharmacological effects on cell lines in culture (L5178Y cells, HeLa cells, HuTu cells and Jurkat E6-1 cells), as well as on several types of bacteria (see below).

SWOT analysis to evaluate the programme of a joint online/onsite master's degree in environmental education through the students' perceptions.

This study shows the use of SWOT to analyse students' perceptions of an environmental education joint master's programme in order to determine if it runs as originally planned. The open answers given by students highlight the inter-university nature of the master's, the technological innovation used as major points, and the weaknesses in the management coordination or the duplicate contents as minor points. The external analysis is closely linked with the students' future jobs, their labour opportunities available to them after graduation.

Transcriptome analysis of scorpion species belonging to the Vaejovis genus.

Scorpions belonging to the Buthidae family have traditionally drawn much of the biochemist's attention due to the strong toxicity of their venoms. Scorpions not toxic to mammals, however, also have complex venoms. They have been shown to be an important source of bioactive peptides, some of them identified as potential drug candidates for the treatment of several emerging diseases and conditions.

[Percutaneous ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma in older patients in clinical practice].

Introduction: A high percentage of older patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are potential candidates for percutaneous ablation.

Material And Methods: We prospectively assessed data from patients older than 70 years with HCC. We determined their demographic and clinical characteristics, the treatment provided and the response, complications and survival among those treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and/or percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI).

Does low-dose prolonged steroid therapy affect the natural history of chronic hepatitis C?

Chronic hepatitis C patients may require steroids due to other comorbidities. However, there is not enough information to consider steroids as beneficial or harmful drugs on natural history of chronic hepatitis C. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of low-dose prolonged therapy with corticosteroids with or without azathioprine on these study patients.

Mass fingerprinting of the venom and transcriptome of venom gland of scorpion Centruroides tecomanus.

Centruroides tecomanus is a Mexican scorpion endemic of the State of Colima, that causes human fatalities. This communication describes a proteome analysis obtained from milked venom and a transcriptome analysis from a cDNA library constructed from two pairs of venom glands of this scorpion. High perfomance liquid chromatography separation of soluble venom produced 80 fractions, from which at least 104 individual components were identified by mass spectrometry analysis, showing to contain molecular masses from 259 to 44,392 Da.

The value of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer and alpha-fetoprotein in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction And Objectives: presently, the reference staging system to evaluate the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is "The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer" (BCLC) system. The value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has not been properly defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the BCLC classification in our clinical practice and to know what the prognostic value of AFP is.

[Clinical characteristics, staging and treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in clinical practice. Prospective study of 136 patients].

Unlabelled: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent cause of mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. There are no prospective series from a single tertiary hospital in Spain.

Material And Methods: We performed a prospective study of patients with HCC in our center.

Amyloidosis and Crohn´s disease.

Secondary amyloidosis is a rare but serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease that may influence the prognosis even more than the underlying disease. Due to a better knowledge of the association of secondary amyloidosis to inflammatory bowel disease, early diagnosis of this complication is becoming more frequent, but its treatment continues to pose a challenge. We report 4 cases of patients with Crohn´s disease and amyloidosis diagnosed in the inflammatory bowel disease Units of Toledo and Ciudad Real, which represent 0.

[Metastatic Crohn's disease].

Metastatic Crohn's disease is a granulomatous cutaneous lesion that appears in patients with Crohn's disease and is located in any skin area, separated from the lesions in the gastrointestinal tract. This entity is characterized by its heterogeneous behavior, both in its localization and clinical expression and in its effect on patients' quality of life. Histology is essential for diagnosis and shows non-caseating granulomas.

An unusual occurrence of chondromyxoid fibroma with secondary aneurysmal bone cyst in the cervical spine.

Background Context: Chondromyxoid fibroma (CMF) and aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) are rare bone tumors and even rarer in the spine. To date, no report has been made of CMF with secondary ABC in the cervical spine.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the diagnosis and surgical treatment of a case of CMF with secondary ABC of C6, a rare occurrence in an uncommon location.

[Efficacy and safety of vaccination against hepatitis A and B in patients with chronic liver disease].

Unlabelled: Vaccination to protect against hepatitis A and B should be part of the routine management of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD).

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in a group of patients with CLD and to assess the presence of factors predictive of response.

Patients And Methods: We performed a prospective, single-center study in 194 patients (123 men, 71 women; mean age, 48.