Systematic Evaluation of Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatitis E Virus Infection.

Background And Aims: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic disease, and infection with HEV in humans primarily causes acute infections and can progress to chronic manifestation in immunocompromised individuals. Over the past decade, guidelines for diagnosing and treating HEV infection have been developed. This study aimed to systematically assess the quality of current guidelines for diagnosing and treating HEV infection, and we analyzed the differences in guideline quality and primary recommendations and explored possible reasons for these differences.

ETV2 regulating PHD2-HIF-1α axis controls metabolism reprogramming promotes vascularized bone regeneration.

The synchronized development of mineralized bone and blood vessels is a fundamental requirement for successful bone tissue regeneration. Adequate energy production forms the cornerstone supporting new bone formation. ETS variant 2 (ETV2) has been identified as a transcription factor that promotes energy metabolism reprogramming and facilitates the coordination between osteogenesis and angiogenesis.

Prognostic scores in primary biliary cholangitis patients with advanced disease.

Background: Due to the chronic progressive disease characteristics of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), patients with advanced PBC should not be ignored. Most prognostic score studies have focused on early stage PBC.

Aim: To compare the prognostic value of various risk scores in advanced PBC to help PBC patients obtain more monitoring and assessment.

Parabacteroides distasonis ameliorates hepatic fibrosis potentially via modulating intestinal bile acid metabolism and hepatocyte pyroptosis in male mice.

Parabacteroides distasonis (P. distasonis) plays an important role in human health, including diabetes, colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Here, we show that P.

Kupffer Cells Regulate Natural Killer Cells Via the NK group 2, Member D (NKG2D)/Retinoic Acid Early Inducible-1 (RAE-1) Interaction and Cytokines in a Primary Biliary Cholangitis Mouse Model.

BACKGROUND Kupffer cells and natural killer (NK) cells has been identified as contributing factors in the pathogenesis of hepatitis, but the detailed mechanism of these cell types in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is poorly understood. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (poly I: C), 2-octynoic acid-bovine serum albumin (2OA-BSA) and Freund's adjuvant (FA) were injected to establish a murine PBC model, from which NK cells and Kupffer cells were extracted and isolated. The cells were then co-cultivated in a designed culture system, and then NK group 2, member D (NKG2D), retinoic acid early inducible-1 (RAE-1), F4/80, and cytokine expression levels were detected.

The Protective Roles of PPARα Activation in Triptolide-Induced Liver Injury.

Triptolide (TP), one of the main active ingredients in Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, is clinically used to treat immune diseases but is known to cause liver injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the biomarkers for TP-induced hepatotoxicity in mice and to determine potential mechanisms of its liver injury. LC/MS-based metabolomics was used to determine the metabolites that were changed in TP-induced liver injury.

Celastrol Protects From Cholestatic Liver Injury Through Modulation of SIRT1-FXR Signaling.

Celastrol, derived from the roots of the , shows a striking effect on obesity. In the present study, the role of celastrol in cholestasis was investigated using metabolomics and transcriptomics. Celastrol treatment significantly alleviated cholestatic liver injury in mice induced by α-naphthyl isothiocyanate (ANIT) and thioacetamide (TAA).

Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells inhibit growth and promote apoptosis of HepG2 cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide and remains difficult to treat. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the umbilical cord (UC‑MSCs) on HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells. UC‑MSCs were co‑cultured with HepG2 cells and biomarkers of UC‑MSCs were analyzed by flow cytometry.

Specific inhibition of mTOR pathway induces anti-proliferative effect and decreases the hormone secretion in cultured pituitary adenoma cells.

There are some evidences that pituitary tumors may be sensitive to the anti-proliferative effects of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, while the mechanism and effects remains unclear, it is necessary to find if a specific mTOR inhibition, including the blocking of both mTOR function and expression, generate any effects on pituitary adenoma cells. The object of this study was to examine if specific inhibition of mTOR induced anti-proliferative effect and decreased the GH and PRL hormones secretion in GH3 and MtT/E pituitary adenoma cells by using a kind of mTOR shRNA lentiviral vector. The in vitro experiments results showed mTOR shRNA transfection robustly reduced the GH3 and MtT/E cells viability in all durations (1-6 days) we performed, also specifically decreased both GH and PRL hormones external secretion in GH3 cells.

Urine and serum metabolomic profiling reveals that bile acids and carnitine may be potential biomarkers of primary biliary cirrhosis.

In order to provide non-invasive, reliable and sensitive laboratory parameters for the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), metabolic technology of ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS) was used to compare small molecule metabolites in blood and urine from patients with PBC and healthy controls. We then screened for bio-markers in the blood and urine of the patients with PBC. Data were processed by Bruker ProfileAnalysis metabonomic software and imported to SIMCA-P software, which utilized principal component analysis (PCA) to create models of patients with PBC and healthy controls.

Recurrent gain-of-function USP8 mutations in Cushing's disease.

Cushing's disease, also known as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting pituitary adenomas (PAs) that cause excess cortisol production, accounts for up to 85% of corticotrophin-dependent Cushing's syndrome cases. However, the genetic alterations in this disease are unclear. Here, we performed whole-exome sequencing of DNA derived from 12 ACTH-secreting PAs and matched blood samples, which revealed three types of somatic mutations in a candidate gene, USP8 (encoding ubiquitin-specific protease 8), exclusively in exon 14 in 8 of 12 ACTH-secreting PAs.

Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging for predicting the consistency of intracranial meningiomas.

Background: The ability of preoperative MRI-sequences to predict the consistency of intracranial meningiomas has not yet been clearly defined. We aim to demonstrate that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) improves the prediction of intracranial meningiomas consistency.

Methods: We prospectively studied 110 meningioma patients operated on in a single center from March 1st to the 25th of May 2012.

Establishment and maintenance of a standardized glioma tissue bank: Huashan experience.

Cerebral glioma is the most common brain tumor as well as one of the top ten malignant tumors in human beings. In spite of the great progress on chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as the surgery strategies during the past decades, the mortality and morbidity are still high. One of the major challenges is to explore the pathogenesis and invasion of glioma at various "omics" levels (such as proteomics or genomics) and the clinical implications of biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of glioma patients.

[Clinical features of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and anti-SP100 autoantibody positivity].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical features of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and positive expression of sp100 autoantibody in order to generate a clinical screening profile that may help to increase early diagnosis and timely initiation of therapy.

Methods: The clinical data of 70 patients who were diagnosed with PBC by liver biopsy between January 2006 to December 2009 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Medicine were retrospectively collected for analysis. The patients were divided according to expression of anti-sp100: positive patients, n = 12; negative patients, n = 58.

Papillary meningioma: clinical and histopathological observations.

Papillary meningioma is a rare subtype of malignant meningiomas, which is classified by the World Health Organization as Grade III. Because of lack of large sample size case studies, many of the specific characteristics of papillary meningioma are unclear. This study investigated by retrospective analysis the clinical, radiological and histopathological findings of 17 papillary meningioma patients who underwent surgical resection or biopsy, to assess the characteristics of papillary meningioma.

Histopathological classification and location of consecutively operated meningiomas at a single institution in China from 2001 to 2010.

Background: Meningioma is one of the most common primary tumors of the central nervous system, but there are not many detailed studies on the sex, age, subtypes and locations of large series. This study was a retrospective analysis of the characteristics of meningioma cases consecutively operated on at a single institution in China from 2001 to 2010.

Methods: This study investigated the demographic background of 7084 meningioma cases, and the subtypes and locations of the tumors.

Secretory meningiomas: clinical, radiological and pathological findings in 70 consecutive cases at one institution.

Secretory meningioma (SM) is a rare, benign subtype of meningioma. Between January 2005 and December 2010, 70 SMs were operated on at the Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data, radiological and immunohistochemical findings, and patient outcome to discuss the specific features of SMs.

Cognitive deficits in patients with brain tumor.

Objective: To discuss the present status and progress of clinical research on the cognitive effects caused by different types of brain tumors and common treatments.

Data Sources: The data used in this review were mainly from PubMed articles published in English from 1990 to Febuary 2012. Research terms were "cognitive deficits" or "cognitive dysfunction".

[Preoperative and postoperative assessment of memory function for intracranial tumor patients].

Objective: To analyze the effects of intracranial tumors and tumor resection on patients' memory functions.

Methods: Four different memory scales were employed to evaluate 58 intracranial tumor patients' memory functions including short-term memory, delayed memory, clue memory and long-term memory. Thirty-five patients received postoperative follow-ups.

Effects of ischemic preconditioning on blood-brain barrier permeability and MMP-9 expression of ischemic brain.

The study was designed to investigate the effects of ischemic preconditioning (IP) on permeability of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in subsequent ischemic hemisphere. Rats were divided into four groups, one group was used as control, and the other three groups were given three different pretreatments: the first group received a saline injection into the right internal carotid artery (SI), the second group underwent both left and right carotid arteries occlusion (BCAO), and the third group was treated with BCAO and SI simultaneously (BS). After 24 hours of pretreatments, the focal cerebral ischemia was induced by inserting a thread into the right middle cerebral artery causing occlusion (MCAO).

Kinetics of phytohemaglutinin-induced IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic hepatitis B after liver transplantation.

Aim: To study the association between host immunity and hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence after liver transplantation.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from 40 patients with hepatitis B and underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) before and 2, 4, 8 wk after surgery. After being cultured in vitro for 72 h, the levels of INF-gamma and TNF-alpha in culture supernatants were detected with ELISA.