Mapping of population disparities in the cholangiocarcinoma urinary metabolome.

Phenotypic diversity in urinary metabolomes of different geographical populations has been recognized recently. In this study, urinary metabolic signatures from Western (United Kingdom) and South-East Asian (Thai) cholangiocarcinoma patients were characterized to understand spectral variability due to host carcinogenic processes and/or exogenous differences (nutritional, environmental and pharmaceutical). Urinary liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) spectral profiles from Thai (healthy = 20 and cholangiocarcinoma = 14) and UK cohorts (healthy = 22 and cholangiocarcinoma = 10) were obtained and modelled using chemometric data analysis.

Suppressor CD4 T cells expressing HLA-G are expanded in the peripheral blood from patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis.

Objective: Identifying components of immuneparesis, a hallmark of chronic liver failure, is crucial for our understanding of complications in cirrhosis. Various suppressor CD4 T cells have been established as potent inhibitors of systemic immune activation. Here, we establish the presence, regulation and mechanism of action of a suppressive CD4 T cell subset expressing human leucocyte antigen G (HLA-G) in patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis (AD).

Characterisation of the Serum Metabolic Signature of Cholangiocarcinoma in a United Kingdom Cohort.

Background: A distinct serum metabonomic pattern has been previously revealed to be associated with various forms of liver disease. Here, we aimed to apply mass spectrometry to obtain serum metabolomic profiles from individuals with cholangiocarcinoma and benign hepatobiliary diseases to gain an insight into pathogenesis and search for potential early-disease biomarkers.

Methods: Serum samples were profiled using a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography platform, coupled to a mass spectrometer.

Mass Spectrometry: A Guide for the Clinician.

Metabolic profiling, metabonomics and metabolomics are terms coined in the late 1990s as they emerged as the newest '' technology at the time. This line of research enquiry uses spectroscopic analytical platforms, which are mainly nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS), to acquire a snapshot of metabolites, the end products of a complex biological system. Metabolic profiling enables the detection, quantification and characterisation of metabolites in biofluids, cells and tissues.

Characterization of the urinary metabolic profile of cholangiocarcinoma in a United Kingdom population.

Outside South-East Asia, most cases of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) have an obscure etiology. There is often diagnostic uncertainty. Metabolomics using ultraperformance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) offers the portent to distinguish disease-specific metabolic signatures.

Cholangiocarcinoma: a guide for the nonspecialist.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a tumor with increasing prevalence around the world. The prevalence of CCA is highest in East Asia and most significantly in the countries through which the Mekong River flows, owing to the presence of liver flukes, which are consumed in raw fish dishes. Outside Asia, the causes of bile duct cancers for the most part are unknown.

Tissue-resident macrophages in the intestine are long lived and defined by Tim-4 and CD4 expression.

A defining feature of resident gut macrophages is their high replenishment rate from blood monocytes attributed to tonic commensal stimulation of this site. In contrast, almost all other tissues contain locally maintained macrophage populations, which coexist with monocyte-replenished cells at homeostasis. In this study, we identified three transcriptionally distinct mouse gut macrophage subsets that segregate based on expression of Tim-4 and CD4.

The Problems With Burnout Research.

Burnout among physicians and physicians-in-training is well established as a potential threat to the health and well-being of health care providers and patients. However, there are myriad problems with current burnout research and its ongoing measurement that threaten the validity of the conclusions. For example, researchers have used differing ways of defining and measuring burnout.