Hepatitis B viral infection and role of alcohol.

End-stage liver disease is frequently caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and alcohol consumption. Notably, the mechanism by which alcohol affects the course of HBV-associated liver disease is unknown, and additional research is needed in this area. A reduced immunological response, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, Golgi apparatus stress, and enhanced HBV replication are a few potential causes.

Cardiolipin in Immune Signaling and Cell Death.

Cardiolipin (CL) is a tetra-acylated diphosphatidylglycerol lipid. In physiological conditions, CL presents unsaturated chains and is located in the inner mitochondria membrane (IMM). Dead signals, infection, or disease may change the level of CL saturation and oxidation and cause its translocation to the cytosolic side of the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), affecting mitochondrial function and the inflammatory response.

Hepatocyte pyroptosis and release of inflammasome particles induce stellate cell activation and liver fibrosis.

Background & Aims: Increased hepatocyte death contributes to the pathology of acute and chronic liver diseases. However, the role of hepatocyte pyroptosis and extracellular inflammasome release in liver disease is unknown.

Methods: We used primary mouse and human hepatocytes, hepatocyte-specific leucine 351 to proline Nlrp3CreA mice, and Gsdmd mice to investigate pyroptotic cell death in hepatocytes and its impact on liver inflammation and damage.

intracellular IFNγ, IL-17 and IL-10 producing T cells correlates with the occurrence of post-transplant opportunistic infection in liver and kidney recipients.

Aim: To validate intracellular cytokine production functional assay as means of cell-mediated immunity monitoring of post-transplant patients with opportunistic infection (OI).

Methods: Intracellular cytokine-producing CD4 and CD8 T-cell monitoring was carried out in 30 liver transplant (LTr) and 31 kidney transplant (KTr) recipients from 2010 to 2012. Patients were assessed in our Department of Immunology at the Clinical University 'Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca-IMIB' in Murcia, Spain for one year following transplantation.

Oncological Evaluation by Positron-emission Tomography, Circulating Tumor Cells and Alpha Fetoprotein in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma on the Waiting List for Liver Transplantation.

Introduction: The objectives of this study are the determination of the number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), by means of the IsoFlux enrichment system (Fluxion Biosciences Inc, San Francisco, California, United States) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in compliance with the Milan criteria and on the waiting list for hepatic transplantation, as well as the study of its relation with the of α-fetoprotein levels (AFP) and positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) findings.

Patients And Methods: An oncologycal evaluation with PET-CT, CTCs, and AFP was conducted in 24 consecutive patients with HCC eligible for orthotopic liver transplantation according to the Milan criteria. The diagnosis of HCC was made according to clinical, biological, and radiological findings.

High expression of CD38, CD69, CD95 and CD154 biomarkers in cultured peripheral T lymphocytes correlates with an increased risk of acute rejection in liver allograft recipients.

The mayor goal still outstanding into the solid organ transplantation field involves the search of surrogate biomarkers able to predict several clinical events, such as acute rejection (AR) or opportunistic infection. In the present multicenter study, a series of interesting surface antigens with important activator or inhibitory immune functions on cultured peripheral T cells were monitored in liver transplant recipients drawn at baseline and up to one year after transplantation. Sixty-four patients were included in the multicenter study during 3 years.

Molecular targets on B-cells to prevent and treat antibody-mediated rejection in organ transplantation. Present and Future.

Introduction: Waiting lists for transplant are increasing day after day since transplantation is still the best option for the treatment of end-stage organ failure. Likewise, our increasing knowledge about how immune system mounts the response against allograft is at the point that up to 95% of acute T-cell-mediated rejections are effectively controlled by current immunosuppressive therapy. Nevertheless, this is not the case for acute and chronic antibody-mediated rejections (ABMR), where treatments to reduce the level of donor specific antibodies (DSAs) remain suboptimal, causing the majority of acute and chronic graft losses.