Optimization of the Use of APRI and FIB-4 for Ruling Out Liver Cirrhosis in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With Normal Alanine Aminotransferase.

The exclusion of cirrhosis is important in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT). We aimed to optimise the performance of the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis score based on four factors (FIB-4) to exclude cirrhosis in these patients. Five hundred and eighty four patients with normal ALT who underwent liver biopsy were included in the study.

ALKBH5 acts a tumor-suppressive biomarker and is associated with immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma.

As immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy has made great strides in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment, improving patient response to this strategy has become the main focus of research. Accumulating evidence has shown that mA methylation plays a crucial role in the tumorigenesis and progression of HCC, while the precise impact of the mA demethylase ALKBH5 on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of HCC remains poorly defined. The clinical significance of ALKBH5 and TIM3 were evaluated in human HCC tissues.

Impaired sensitivity to thyroid hormone is associated with developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in euthyroid diabetic subjects.

Background And Aims: Acquired resistance to thyroid hormone appears to exist in the general population. We aimed to evaluate the association between indices of thyroid hormone sensitivity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and made stratified analyses by diabetic status.

Methods: We included 26,413 participants from a health screening program and 8,246 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes.

SIRT2 Promotes NLRP3-Mediated Microglia Pyroptosis and Neuroinflammation via FOXO3a Pathway After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Purpose: This study primarily elucidating the specific mechanism of SIRT2 on neuroinflammation and microglial pyroptosis in a mouse model of SAH.

Patients And Methods: CSF were collected from 57 SAH patients and 11 healthy individuals. C57BL/6 mouse SAH model was established using prechiasmatic cistern blood injection and the in vitro hemoglobin (Hb) stimulation microglia model.

Advancing precision medicine in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using patient-derived organoids.

Background: Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) represent a promising approach for replicating the characteristics of original tumors and facilitating drug testing for personalized treatments across diverse cancer types. However, clinical evidence regarding their application to esophageal cancer remains limited. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of implementing PDOs in clinical practice to benefit patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Upregulation of GSTP1 mediated by chimeric TFE3 promotes TFE3-tRCC progression by targeting JNK signaling pathway.

Background: TFE3-translocation renal cell carcinoma (TFE3-tRCC), a distinct subtype of kidney cancer characterized by Xp11.2 translocations, involving TFE3 fusion with various partner genes, lacks effective treatments and prognostic biomarkers for advanced stages. This study aimed to unravel the pathogenic mechanisms and uncover novel therapeutic targets.

Disrupted methionine cycle triggers muscle atrophy in cancer cachexia through epigenetic regulation of REDD1.

The essential amino acid methionine plays a pivotal role in one-carbon metabolism, facilitating the production of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a critical supplier for DNA methylation and thereby a modulator of gene expression. Here, we report that the methionine cycle is disrupted in skeletal muscle during cancer cachexia, leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress and DNA hypomethylation-induced expression of the DNA damage inducible transcript 4 (Ddit4) gene, encoding the regulated in development and DNA damage response 1 (REDD1) protein. Targeting DNA methylation by depletion or pharmacological inhibition of DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) exacerbates cachexia, while restoring DNMT3A expression or REDD1 knockout alleviates cancer cachexia-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in mice.

Clinical Features and Transition of Acute Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

Acute hepatitis B (AHB) is generally a self-limiting illness in adults and most patients achieve hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance within 6 months. We aimed to investigate the proportion and influencing factors of chronic outcome in adult AHB patients. A total of 126 consecutive AHB patients were included between January 2013 and October 2018.

Nitric Oxide-Releasing Mesoporous Hollow Cerium Oxide Nanozyme-Based Hydrogel Synergizes with Neural Stem Cell for Spinal Cord Injury Repair.

Neural stem cell (NSCs) transplantation is a promising therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury (SCI), but its efficacy is greatly limited by the local inhibitory microenvironment. In this study, based on l-arginine (l-Arg)-loaded mesoporous hollow cerium oxide (AhCeO) nanospheres, we constructed an injectable composite hydrogel (AhCeO-Gel) with microenvironment modulation capability. AhCeO-Gel protected NSCs from oxidative damage by eliminating excess reactive oxygen species while continuously delivering Nitric Oxide to the lesion of SCI in a pathological microenvironment, the latter of which effectively promoted the neural differentiation of NSCs.

Accurate prediction of bleeding risk after coronary artery bypass grafting with dual antiplatelet therapy: A machine learning model vs. the PRECISE-DAPT score.

Background: Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), although might be protective for ischemic events, can lead to varying degrees of bleeding, resulting in serious clinical events, including death. This study aims to develop accurate and scalable predictive tools for early identification of bleeding risks during the DAPT period post-CABG, comparing them with the PRECISE-DAPT score.

Methods: Clinical data were collected from patients who underwent isolated CABG at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital between June 2021 and December 2023.

Retention of indoxyl sulfate in different genotypes of may explain variation in tacrolimus pharmacokinetics.

Background: Microbiota-derived toxins indoxyl sulfate and hippuric acid were previously reported to be associated with altered pharmacokinetics of the immunosuppressant tacrolimus in liver transplant recipients, and ABC transporter proteins are likely to be involved in the transport of such substances, but the role has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess the retention of indoxyl sulfate and hippuric acid in the plasma of liver transplantation subjects carrying different genotypes of and (changes in transporter activity due to genetic variation), and to explore whether genetic variation is involved in altering the relationship between microbe-derived toxins and tacrolimus pharmacokinetics.

Methods: Liver transplantation subjects treated with the immunosuppressive regimen tacrolimus, corticosteroids, and mycophyolate mofetil were included and divided into normal renal function group and chronic kidney disease group.

Identification of AXL as a novel positive regulator of lipid raft in gastric cancer.

Lipid rafts are highly heterogeneous and dynamic microdomains involved in molecule trafficking and signaling transduction. This study investigates the role of lipid rafts in gastric cancer and their key regulators. Analyzing FFPE samples from 111 gastric cancer patients, we found that high lipid raft levels predict poor prognosis.

Virological and Immunological Characteristics of HBeAg-Positive Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With Low HBsAg Levels.

Background: HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with low HBsAg levels represents a relatively rare serological pattern and is closely associated with the severity of liver disease. However, the underlying mechanisms in such cases remain largely unclear.

Methods: Treatment-naïve HBeAg-positive CHB patients with low HBsAg levels in China were enrolled and analysed.

MT-SCnet: multi-scale token divided and spatial-channel fusion transformer network for microscopic hyperspectral image segmentation.

Introduction: Hybrid architectures based on convolutional neural networks and Transformers, effectively captures both the local details and the overall structural context of lesion tissues and cells, achieving highly competitive segmentation results in microscopic hyperspectral image (MHSI) segmentation tasks. However, the fixed tokenization schemes and single-dimensional feature extraction and fusion in existing methods lead to insufficient global feature extraction in hyperspectral pathology images.

Methods: Base on this, we propose a multi-scale token divided and spatial-channel fusion transformer network (MT-SCnet) for MHSIs segmentation.

Key role of macrophages in the progression of hepatic fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis is a pathological change characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix caused by chronic liver injury, and the mechanisms underlying its development are associated with endothelial cell injury, inflammatory immune cell activation, and HSC activation. Furthermore, hepatic macrophages exhibit remarkable heterogeneity and hold central functions in the evolution of liver fibrosis, with different subgroups exerting dual effects of promotion and regression. Currently, targeted macrophage therapy for reversing hepatic fibrosis has been extensively studied and has shown promising prospects.

Triglycerides and HDL Cholesterol Mediate the Association Between Waist Circumference and Hyperuricemia in Normal-Weight Men.

Purpose: Hyperuricemia has traditionally been associated with obesity and dyslipidemia. However, the relationship between waist circumference (WC) and hyperuricemia in normal-weight men is still unclear, particularly regarding the roles of triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The aim of this research was to explore the mediating roles of TG and HDL-C in the association between WC and hyperuricemia in normal-weight men.

One-hour post-load glucose is associated with biopsy-proven metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in obese individuals.

Aim: To investigate the association between one-hour post-load plasma glucose (1h-PG) levels and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Methods: Clinical data were collected from 538 obese participants who underwent oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and liver biopsy in the Drum Tower Hospital affiliated with the Nanjing University Medical School. Participants were categorized into normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes (pre-DM), and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) groups, with further stratification of the NGT group into 1h-PG Low and 1h-PG High.

Case report: Spindle cell sarcoma and pituitary adenoma in the sella region-a rare collision tumor.

Background: Collision tumors are defined as two or more distinctly bordered, mutually invasive tumors in the same anatomical region. Characterized by low incidence and lack of specificity, they often pose a significant challenge to disease diagnosis. Among these, collision tumors in the sella region are incredibly rare.

Comparative efficacy of intermittent theta burst stimulation and high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients.

Intermittent theta burst stimulation, a derivative of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, has been applied to improve cognitive deficits. However, its efficacy and mechanisms in enhancing cognitive function in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment compared with traditional repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigms remain unclear. This study recruited 48 amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients, assigning them to intermittent theta burst stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and sham groups (5 times/wk for 4 wk).

Association of Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists use with fracture risk in type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis (OP) and fractures.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the available evidence on the effect of GLP-1 RAs on fracture risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A systematic search based on PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases was performed to collect relevant literature published until May 2024 on the application of GLP-1 RAs in T2DM patients.

CoronaVac-induced antibodies that facilitate Fc-mediated neutrophil phagocytosis track with COVID-19 disease resolution.

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants raise concerns about decreased vaccine efficacy, vaccines continue to confer robust protection in humans, implying that immunity beyond neutralization contributes to vaccine efficacy. In addition to neutralization, antibodies can mediate various Fc-dependent effector functions, including antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), antibody-dependent neutrophil phagocytosis (ADNP) and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, the specific role of each Fc-mediated effector function in contributing to COVID-19 disease attenuation in human remains unclear.

Single-Cell Multiomics Identifies Glycan Epitope LacNAc as a Potential Cell-Surface Effector Marker of Peripheral T Cells in Bladder Cancer Patients.

Cancer is a systemic disease continuously monitored and responded to by the human global immune system. Peripheral blood immune cells, integral to this surveillance, exhibit variable phenotypes during tumor progression. Glycosylation, as one of the most prevalent and significant post-translational modifications of proteins, plays a crucial role in immune system recognition and response.