The crucial roles and research advances of cGAS‑STING pathway in liver diseases.

Inflammation responses have identified as a key mediator of in various liver diseases with high morbidity and mortality. cGAS-STING signalling is essential in innate immunity since it triggers release of type I interferons and various of proinflammatory cytokines. The potential connection between cGAS-STING pathway and liver inflammatory diseases has recently been reported widely.

Crohn's disease as the intestinal manifestation of pan-lymphatic dysfunction: An exploratory proposal based on basic and clinical data.

Crohn's disease (CD) is caused by immune, environmental, and genetic factors. It can involve the entire gastrointestinal tract, and although its prevalence is rapidly increasing its etiology remains unclear. Emerging biological and small-molecule drugs have advanced the treatment of CD; however, a considerable proportion of patients are non-responsive to all known drugs.

Acid-base transformative HADLA micelles alleviate colitis by restoring adaptive immunity and gut microbiome.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a worldwide public health issue with an increasing number of patients annually. However, there is no curative drug for IBD, and the present medication for IBD generally focuses on suppressing hyperactive immune responses, which can only delay disease progression but inevitably induce off-target side effects, including infections and cancers. Herein, late-model orally administered nanotherapeutic micelles (HADLA) were developed based on a conjugate of hyaluronic acid (HA) and dehydrolithocholic acid (DLA), which was simple to achieve and obtained satisfactory therapeutic efficacy in a murine colitis model with a full safety profile.

Impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on the risk of severe COVID-19.

Ecological studies suggested a link between air pollution and severe COVID-19 outcomes, while studies accounting for individual-level characteristics are limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on disease severity among a cohort of 569 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in Zhejiang province, China, from January 17 to March 3, 2020, and elucidate the possible biological processes involved using transcriptomics. Compared with mild cases, severe cases had higher proportion of medical conditions as well as unfavorable results in most of the laboratory tests, and manifested higher air pollution exposure levels.

Immunomodulatory and Antiviral Therapy Improved Functional Cure Rate in CHB Patients with High HBsAg Level Experienced NA.

Background And Aims: A functional cure, or hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) loss, is difficult to achieve in patients with hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B. The HBV vaccine and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) have been reported to help reduce HBsAg levels and promote HBsAg loss. In this prospective randomized trial, we evaluated HBsAg loss in patients receiving pegylated interferon-α2b (PEGIFN-α2b) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), with and without GM-CSF and HBV vaccination.

Chemical energy assisted self-assembling of a porphyrin-substituted benzoic acid in complex environments.

Energy input plays a crucial role in the assembling of matter. In our present study, we utilize EDC as a chemical fuel to drive the molecular assembling of POR-COOH. POR-COOH will react with EDC to generate the intermediate POR-COOEDC first, which was well-solvated by solvent molecules.

Comparative analysis of elderly hospitalized patients with COVID-19 or influenza A H1N1 virus infections.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the differences between elderly patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza A H1N1 virus infections.

Methods: We contrasted two absolute groups of patients (age ≥60 years) infected with either COVID-19 (n = 222) or influenza A H1N1 virus infections (n = 96). Propensity score matching was used to reduce the imbalance between the two matched groups.

Pegylated interferon-α-2b combined with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and hepatitis B vaccine treatment for naïve HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients: A prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled study.

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss or seroconversion is an ideal treatment endpoint for patients with chronic hepatitis B but is rarely achievable in  hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients using existing treatment strategies. In this study, the effect of pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) alfa-2b plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and hepatitis B vaccine was evaluated. This randomized controlled trial was conducted at nine liver centers in Chinese university hospitals from May 2018 to July 2020.

Practice guidance for the use of terlipressin for liver cirrhosis-related complications.

Background: Liver cirrhosis is a major global health burden worldwide due to its high risk of morbidity and mortality. Role of terlipressin for the management of liver cirrhosis-related complications has been recognized during recent years. This article aims to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidance on the use of terlipressin for liver cirrhosis-related complications.

Computation of flexoelectric coefficients of a MoS monolayer with a model of self-consistently distributed effective charges and dipoles.

Flexoelectricity is an electromechanical coupling phenomenon that can generate noticeable electric polarization in dielectric materials for nanoscale strain gradients. It is gaining increasing attention because of its potential applications and the fact that experimental results were initially an order of magnitude higher than initial theoretical predictions. This stimulated intense experimental and theoretical research to investigate flexoelectric coefficients in dielectric materials such as two-dimensional materials.

Inactivated vaccines prevent severe COVID-19 in patients infected with the Delta variant: A comparative study of the Delta and Alpha variants from China.

The Delta variant has gradually replaced the Alpha variant as the major strain of SARS-COV-2 infection worldwide. We extracted the clinical characteristics and outcomes information about 381 hospitalized patients infected with Delta variant and compared them with 856 patients diagnosed with Alpha variant infection in Zhejiang Province. The majority (85.

Acute kidney injury defined by cystatin C may be superior for predicting the outcomes of liver cirrhosis with acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

Background & Aims: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is conventionally evaluated by a dynamic change of serum creatinine (Scr). Cystatin C (CysC) seems to be a more accurate biomarker for assessing kidney function. This retrospective multicenter study aims to evaluate whether AKI re-defined by CysC can predict the in-hospital outcomes of patients with liver cirrhosis and acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

Dynamic metabolic profiles for HBeAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remains a major public health problem globally. HBeAg seroconversion is a vital hallmark for the improvement of CHB. The plasma metabolic profile has not been clear in CHB patients and searching metabolic candidates to represent HBeAg seroconversion is also difficult currently.

Effect of Body Mass Index on the Prognosis of Liver Cirrhosis.

At present, the association of body mass index (BMI) with the prognosis of liver cirrhosis is controversial. Our retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of BMI on the outcome of liver cirrhosis. In the first part, long-term death was evaluated in 436 patients with cirrhosis and without malignancy from our prospectively established single-center database.

Shifting demographics and comorbidity burden in adult Chinese urban patients with chronic hepatitis B, 2013 and 2016.

Chronic hepatitis B demographics and comorbidity data are limited in China. The China Health Insurance Association claims database from 2013 and 2016 was used to augment the existing data: the proportion of patients aged >45 years increased significantly from 40.3% in 2013 to 49% in 2016 (p < 0.

High body mass index is a significant risk factor for the progression and prognosis of imported COVID-19: a multicenter, retrospective cohort study.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) has spread worldwide. The present study aimed to characterize the clinical features and outcomes of imported COVID-19 patients with high body mass index (BMI) and the independent association of BMI with disease severity.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 455 imported COVID-19 patients were admitted and discharged in Zhejiang province by February 28, 2020.

Cross-sectional retrospective analysis of clinical characteristics of chronic hepatitis B patients with oral antiviral treatment in eastern China.

Background: In China, more than 20 million patients with chronic hepatitis B need antiviral treatment. Side effects of antiviral treatment such as renal complications can be problematic, particularly in an aging population.

Methods: The data were retrospectively extracted from the hospital medical charts of five centers in eastern China from January 1 to December 31, 2018.

Terlipressin May Decrease In-Hospital Mortality of Cirrhotic Patients with Acute Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Renal Dysfunction: A Retrospective Multicenter Observational Study.

Background: Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) rapidly reduces effective blood volume, thereby precipitating acute kidney injury (AKI). Terlipressin, which can induce splanchnic vasoconstriction and increase renal perfusion, has been recommended for acute GIB and hepatorenal syndrome in liver cirrhosis. Thus, we hypothesized that terlipressin might be beneficial for cirrhotic patients with acute GIB and renal impairment.

Interferon-α2b spray inhalation did not shorten virus shedding time of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients: a preliminary matched case-control study.

Background: Currently, there are no drugs that have been proven to be effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Because of its broad antiviral activity, interferon (IFN) should be evaluated as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially while COVID-19-specific therapies are still under development.

Methods: Confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, from January 19 to February 19, 2020 were enrolled in a retrospective study.

High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio associated with progression to critical illness in older patients with COVID-19: a multicenter retrospective study.

This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the correlation of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with critical illness in older patients with COVID-19, and evaluate the prognostic power of the NLR at admission. We enrolled 232 patients with COVID-19, aged ≥60 y, in Zhejiang province from January 17 to March 3, 2020. Primary outcomes were evaluated until April 13.