Food antigens suppress small intestinal tumorigenesis.

Food components suppressing small intestinal tumorigenesis are not well-defined partly because of the rarity of this tumor type compared to colorectal tumors. Using mice, a mouse model for intestinal tumorigenesis, and antigen-free diet, we report here that food antigens serve this function in the small intestine. By depleting Peyer's patches (PPs), immune inductive sites in the small intestine, we found that PPs have a role in the suppression of small intestinal tumors and are important for the induction of small intestinal T cells by food antigens.

Comparative analysis of sorafenib and lenvatinib on HepG2 cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells: Involvement of transforming growth factor-β signaling in their molecular effects.

Aim: This study aimed to compare the effects of the molecular targeted drugs, sorafenib and lenvatinib, on the survival, invasion, and angiogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Additionally, we investigated the involvement of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling in their molecular mechanisms.

Methods: To investigate the effects of sorafenib and lenvatinib, we conducted cell viability, invasion, and angiogenesis assays, as well as western blotting analyses.

The effects of breast density on the benefits of mammograms with adjunctive ultrasonography in breast screening.

Objective: Various efforts have been made to improve the accuracy of breast cancer screening. This study aimed to report differences in the contribution of ultrasonography to cancer screening assessments of dense and non-dense breasts.

Methods: The participants in this study were 29,640 Japanese women in their 40 s who underwent breast cancer screening at the Iwate Cancer Society between 2018 and 2021.

Long-term survival by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in a patient with perforated extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma of the small intestine: a retrospective case study.

Background: Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKL) of the small intestine, is a disease with extremely poor prognosis. We describe treatment in a case which is novel in that it demonstrated long-term survival.

Case Presentation: A 68-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department of our hospital with the complaint of severe umbilical pain with tenderness and muscular defense.

Bioactive Compounds from the Mushroom-Forming Fungus .

A novel compound () along with two known compounds ( and ) were isolated from the culture broth of , and three known compounds (-) were isolated from its fruiting bodies. The planar structure of was determined by the interpretation of spectroscopic data. By comparing the specific rotation of the compound with that of the analog compound, the absolute configuration of was determined to be .

Annual changes in grip strength and skeletal muscle mass in chronic liver disease: observational study.

Sarcopenia is a common complication in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD); however, the progression of sarcopenia over the course of CLD is unclear. The present study therefore determined the natural course of the progression of sarcopenia in patients with CLD and the effect of liver cirrhosis (LC) on this progression. This observational study analyzed patients with chronic hepatitis (CH) (n = 536) and LC (n = 320) who underwent evaluations of the grip strength and skeletal muscle mass of the arms, trunk, and legs for sarcopenia between 2016 and 2021.

Early-phase prothrombin time-international normalized ratio in acute liver injury indicates the timing of therapeutic intervention and predicts prognostic improvement.

Aim: We investigated whether an early-phase prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR) is an interventional prognostic indicator for patients with acute liver injury, including acute liver failure.

Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective observational study. We included 595 patients with alanine aminotransferase levels ≥300 U/L due to acute liver injury who were admitted to Kagoshima University Hospital or other collaborative investigation organizations between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2015.

Evaluation of SOX9-Positive Hepatocytes in Human Liver Specimens and Mature Mouse Hepatocytes.

The liver has a remarkable regenerative capacity with different modes of regeneration according to the type and extent of an injury. It has been reported that mature hepatocytes could transdifferentiate into a cholangiocyte phenotype. Sry HMG box protein 9 (SOX9) is one of the earliest biliary markers that regulate bile duct development.

Anti-phytopathogenic-bacterial fatty acids from the mycelia of the edible mushroom Agaricus blazei.

Five compounds including a new compound (1) were isolated from mycelia of a mushroom-forming fungus Agaricus blazei. Compound 2 was isolated from nature for the first time. Their structures were determined by the interpretation of spectroscopic data.

Shear wave dispersion to assess liver disease progression in Fontan-associated liver disease.

Aim: We aimed to analyze the dispersion slope (DS) using shear wave dispersion (SWD) in patients with Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD) and to investigate its utility as a biomarker of disease progression.

Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 27 adults with FALD who underwent SWD, two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, or abdominal computed tomography (CT) from April 2019 to April 2021. According to CT findings, patients were divided into two groups: significant fibrosis and non-significant fibrosis.

Viral eradication by direct-acting antivirals does not decrease the serum myostatin level in patients infected with hepatitis C virus.

Objectives: Myostatin has been assumed to be involved in the development of sarcopenia in patients with chronic liver disease, but the effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination on myostatin is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a sustained virologic response at 24 wk (SVR24) after direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy on serum myostatin levels in patients infected with HCV.

Methods: In this single-center retrospective study based on data collected from a university hospital, we analyzed patients infected with HCV who were treated with DAA between 2014 and 2017.

Excess fructose enhances oleatic cytotoxicity via reactive oxygen species production and causes necroptosis in hepatocytes.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic phenotype of metabolic syndrome, has been identified as a major health concern as the number of cirrhosis and deaths associated with NAFLD is expected to increase. Although fructose intake has been considered to be a progressive factor in the pathophysiology of NAFLD, it remains unclear how fructose contributes to hepatocellular damage during lipotoxicity. In the present study, we aimed to analyze the hepatotoxicity of fructose in steatosis.

Diagnostic criteria for acute-on-chronic liver failure and related disease conditions in Japan.

The Intractable Hepato-Biliary Disease Study Group of Japan, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Wealth, proposed in 2018 that patients with cirrhosis and a Child-Pugh score of 5-9 should be diagnosed as having acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) when a deterioration of liver function ("serum bilirubin level of 5.0 mg/dl or more" and "prothrombin time value of 40% or less of the standardized values and/or international normalization rates of 1.5 or more") caused by severe liver damage develops within 28 days after an acute insult, including alcohol abuse, bacterial infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, and the exacerbation of underlying liver diseases.

Influence of skeletal muscle volume loss during lenvatinib treatment on prognosis in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a multicenter study in Tohoku, Japan.

Sarcopenia is associated with poor prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated the association of skeletal muscle volume (SMV) and its change in HCC patients taking lenvatinib. In 130 HCC patients, psoas mass index (PMI) was calculated as the left-right sum of the major × minor axis of psoas muscle at the third lumbar vertebra, divided by height squared.

A new lanostane triterpenoid from the mushroom Hypholoma fasciculare.

A novel compound (1) and 3 known compounds (2-4) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Hypholoma fasciculare. The structure of 1 was determined by the interpretation of spectroscopic data. Compounds 2-4 were identified by comparing the spectra data of known compounds.

Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Rifaximin in Japanese Patients with Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background: Rifaximin is commonly used for hepatic encephalopathy (HE). However, the effects of long-term treatment for Japanese people are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects and safety of long-term treatment with rifaximin on HE.

The Concept of Indeterminable NASH Inducted by Preoperative Diet and Metabolic Surgery: Analyses of Histopathological and Clinical Features.

Practitioners routinely perform intraoperative liver biopsies during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) to evaluate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In some patients, hepatocyte ballooning, inflammation, and fibrosis without steatosis are observed, even in the absence of other etiologies. We call this finding indeterminable nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (Ind-NASH).

Liver-related events after direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with hepatitis C virus-associated cirrhosis.

Background: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy enables a high rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients with hepatitis C virus associated cirrhosis. However, the impact of DAA therapy on liver-related events in patients with cirrhosis is unclear.

Methods: A total of 350 patients with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis administered DAA therapy at 29 Japanese hospitals were enrolled (Child-Pugh class A [CP-A]: 195 patients, CP-B: 131 patients and CP-C: 24 patients).

Safety and efficacy of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir in north Tohoku Japanese patients with genotype 1/2 hepatitis C virus infection.

Background And Aims: To assess the efficacy and safety of treatment with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in Japanese patients with genotype (GT) 1/2 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: A total of 230 patients from 12 centers in northern Tohoku Japan with chronic hepatitis (CH) or compensated liver cirrhosis (LC) and GT1/2 HCV infection were treated with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir and followed up for 12 weeks after treatment completion. Those patients were evaluated by dividing them into the following three groups: CH GT1/2 HCV-infected, direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA)-naive patients received 8 weeks of treatment (8-week initial treatment group), compensated LC GT1/2 HCV-infected, DAA-naive patients received 12 weeks of treatment (12-week initial treatment group), and GT1/2 HCV-infected patients with previous failed DAA treatment were assigned to 12-week treatment (12-week re-treatment group).

Referral system has a diminished difference in the risk for hepatic encephalopathy development among each etiology in patients with acute liver injury.

Aim: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) development is crucial in liver transplantation for patients with acute liver injury (ALI) and failure (ALF); to predict HE development, the Japan Hepatic Encephalopathy Prediction (JHEP) model, calculated using age, etiology, prothrombin time (PT), and total bilirubin, was established in 2004, and a referral system to the liver center was implemented using the JHEP model from April 2004.

Methods: The JHEP model's ability to predict HE development in 460 consecutive patients with ALI between April 2004 and January 2021 using data from the referral system was evaluated, and the JHEP model was revised.

Results: During the observation period, 7.