Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Vascular Disease, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Germany.

Context: The effect of a lifestyle intervention to reduce liver fat content in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in humans is influenced by genetics. We hypothesized that the functionally active amino acid exchange in humans Gly388Arg (mouse homologue: Gly385Arg) in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4), which regulates bile acid, lipid and glucose metabolism, may determine the dynamics of hepatic lipid accumulation and insulin sensitivity in humans. Mechanisms of this substitution were studied in mice under normal chow and high-fat diet. Read More

Am J Clin Nutr 2018 Dec;108(6):1264-1274

Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Background: Whole-grain wheat (WGW) is described as nutritionally superior to refined wheat (RW) and thus advocated as the healthy choice, although evidence from intervention studies is often inconsistent. The liver, as the central organ in energy metabolism, might be an important target organ for WGW interventions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of WGW consumption compared with RW consumption on liver health and associated parameters. Read More

Am J Clin Nutr 2018 Dec;108(6):1162-1163

Liver Care Network, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA.

Cell Rep 2018 Dec;25(11):3099-3109.e3

Nanyang Technological University, School of Biological Sciences, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore. Electronic address:

Inflammation-induced disappearance of tissue-resident macrophages represents a key pathogen defense mechanism. Using a model of systemic blood-stage malaria, we studied the dynamics of tissue-resident macrophages in multiple organs to determine how they are depleted and refilled during the course of disease. We show that Plasmodium infection results in a transient loss of embryonically established resident macrophages prior to the parasitemia peak. Read More

FASEB J 2018 Dec 12:fj201802015R. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Levels of augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR), a multifunctional protein, are reduced in steatohepatitis. ALR depletion from ALR /Alb-Cre [ALR-L-knockout (KO)] mouse causes robust steatosis and apoptosis of hepatocytes, and pericellular fibrosis between 1 and 2 wk postbirth. Steatosis regresses by 4 wk upon reappearance of ALR-expressing hepatocytes. Read More

PLoS One 2018 12;13(12):e0208903. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Background: The role of noninvasive liver fibrosis markers which were developed to evaluate the severity of chronic liver disease remains unclear in cirrhosis.

Aims: To evaluate the correlation between noninvasive markers and hemodynamic parameters and their prognostic performance in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: A total of 242 cirrhotic patients undergoing hemodynamic study were analyzed. Read More

Rev Gastroenterol Peru 2018 Jul-Sep;38(3):285-288

Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.

Ischemic Hepatitis is an uncommon entity in daily clinical practice with a prevalence of 0.16 to 0.5% among patients admitted to a critical care unit, associated with an approximate 60% mortality rate. Read More

J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2018 Dec 10. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

College of Biomedical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China.

Disorders of lipid metabolism and inflammation play an important role in atherosclerosis. LongShengZhi capsule (LSZ), a Chinese herbal medicine, has been used for treatment of patients with vascular diseases for many years. Herein, we determined the effect of LSZ on the progression of established atherosclerotic lesions in apoE deficient (apoE) mice. Read More

J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, SWBH and UHB NHS Trusts, Birmingham, UK.

Aim: Edoxaban, a nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant, is an oral factor Xa inhibitor approved for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in adult patients with atrial fibrillation and for the treatment and secondary prevention in adult patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE). This study details the design of the Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice for patients with Atrial Fibrillation in Europe (ETNA-AF-Europe) study - a postauthorization observational study, which is part of the postapproval plan for edoxaban agreed with the European Medicines Agency.

Methods: The ETNA-AF-Europe study (Clinicaltrials. Read More

Magy Seb 2018 Dec;71(4):163-169

Department of Organ Fabrication, Keio University School of Medicine 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.

Introduction: Research has made progress in organ fabrication using an extracellular matrix, cell sheets, or organoids. Human liver tissue has been constructed using a 3-dimensional (3D) bioprinter and showed evidence that an in vitro generated liver bud was reformed in a rodent liver model. This study describes the stages of development of rat fetal organs and liver structure and reviews recent progress in liver organoid transplantation. Read More

Arq Gastroenterol 2018 Jul-Sep;55(3):274-278

Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Botucatu, SP, Brasil.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious public health problem, that affects approximately 170 million people worldwide. Chronic HCV infection is associated with hepatic insulin resistance and an increased risk of diabetes HCV-infected patients has been well documented.

Objective: To assess the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index in patients treated with direct acting antiviral (DAAs) medication in the sustained virological response (SVR), categorized by the presence or absence of cirrhosis. Read More

Arq Gastroenterol 2018 Jul-Sep;55(3):258-263

Universidade Federal de Goiás, Faculdade de Medicina, Hospital das Clínicas, Departamento de Cirurgia, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.

Background: Liver metastases from colorectal cancer are an important public health problem due to the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer worldwide. Synchronous colorectal liver metastasis has been associated with worse survival, but this prognosis is controversial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the recurrence-free survival and overall survival between groups of patients with metachronous and synchronous colorectal hepatic metastasis. Read More

Arq Bras Cir Dig 2018 Dec 6;31(4):e1403. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

University Center UNIFACISA), João Pessoa, PB.

Introduction: The celiac trunk (CT) is one of the abdominal portion branches of the aortic artery and, together with the superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric arteries, participates in the abdominal viscera vascularization through a series of anastomoses. Absence of CT or variation in the number of terminal branches implies in varied abdominal arteries origins, which may have implication in surgical approaches.

Objective: To analyze the anatomical variations of the celiac trunk and possible associated surgical clinical implications. Read More

J Cancer Res Ther 2018 Dec;14(Supplement):S1233-S1236

Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

Macrovascular invasion, such as tumor thrombus in the major portal vein (mPVTT) or major hepatic vein (mHVTT), is regarded as indicative of an advanced stage of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To date, no effective treatment has been established for this kind of HCC. We herein present a case of huge HCC with intrahepatic metastasis, mPVTT, and mHVTT. Read More

J Cancer Res Ther 2018 Dec;14(Supplement):S1230-S1232

Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with gastric metastasis is seldom reported. It is extremely easy to misdiagnose for primary gastric cancer with liver metastasis, especially gastric hepatoid adenocarcinoma. Here, we report a case of recurrent HCC with gastric metastasis in a 22-year-old man. Read More

J Cancer Res Ther 2018 Dec;14(Supplement):S1148-S1151

Department of Oncology. Dongying People's Hospital, Dongying, Shandong, China.

Objective: Endostar is a new vascular epithelial inhibitor, which is reported to be effective in treating liver metastasis from gastric cancer. However, the optimal therapeutic regimen of Endostar remains unclear. Thus, our study aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of Endostar continuous intravenous infusion combined with S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) chemotherapy in treating such patients. Read More

J Cancer Res Ther 2018 Dec;14(Supplement):S1035-S1040

Department of Medical Imageology, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.

Aim: Norcantharidin (NCTD) has been used as a clinical antineoplastic drug in China for several years, and diamminedichloroplatinum is a valuable clinical cancer chemotherapy agent. Here, we tried to investigate the effects of NCTD plus diamminedichloroplatinum on hepatic carcinoma in murine.

Materials And Methods: In vivo and in vitro investigations on anticancer effects of the two drugs were individually made. Read More

Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2018 Sep 15;7(1):197-209. Epub 2018 Sep 15.

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Electronic address:

Background & Aims: Transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) into myofibroblasts is a key event in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) are canonical HSC activators after liver injury. The aim of this study was to analyze the epigenetic modulators that differentially control TGF-β and PDGF signaling pathways. Read More

Hepatol Int 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.

Background And Aims: While the association between platelet activation and hepatic fibrosis has been previously demonstrated in animal studies; the utility of anti-platelet agents in reversing the progression of hepatic fibrosis requires further review. Utilizing systematic review methods, we provide to our knowledge the first meta-analysis combining evidence from all studies aimed to establish the effect of anti-platelet agents in the prevention of hepatic fibrosis.

Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE and PubMed databases from inception to October 2018 to identify all studies aimed at evaluating the role of anti-platelet agents in the prevention of hepatic fibrosis. Read More

Obes Surg 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Service de Chirurgie Générale et Endocrinienne, CHU Lille, Hôpital Huriez, Rue Michel Polonowski, 59000, Lille, France.

Background: The incidence of biliary lithiasis is increased after bariatric surgery due to rapid weight loss [1]. Trans-oral endoscopic management in cases of common bile duct gallstone complication is not possible in patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) due to the modified anatomy. Access to the biliary tree after RYGB with a classical direct surgical approach of common bile duct and choledocoscopy can be used, but may be complicated in situations of acute cholangitis because of the fragility of common duct, or in cases of previous cholecystectomy. Read More

Ann Surg Oncol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

Background: The prevalence and characteristics of actual 5-year survivors after surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) have not been described previously.

Methods: Patients who underwent resection for HC from 2000 to 2015 were analyzed through a multi-institutional registry from 10 U.S. Read More

Fish Physiol Biochem 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Key Laboratory of Aquatic Nutrition and Feed Science of Jiangsu Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Streptococcus faecalis on the growth performance, intestinal histology, antioxidant capability, innate immunity, and disease resistance of blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala. Fish were fed five experimental diets containing 0 (SF0, control), 1 × 10 (SF1), 1 × 10 (SF2), 1 × 10 (SF3), and 1 × 10 cfu/g (SF4) of Streptococcus faecalis, respectively, for 10 weeks. After the feeding trial, fish were challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila with the cumulative mortality recorded during a period of 96 h. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential protective effect of two extracts derived from two soil actinomycete strains, designated S19 and G30, against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in male rats. Sixty-four male rats were divided into four groups of 16 rats per group. The first group was a control group given corn oil and the nutritive medium which is composed of a mixture of the two used media. Read More

Abdom Radiol (NY) 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Radiology, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr., Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between imaging and clinical features and visualization scores, as specified by American College of Radiology (ACR) Ultrasound Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS), on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening ultrasound examinations.

Methods: In this dual-center retrospective study, HCC screening ultrasound reports containing ultrasound elastography measurements (January to September, 2017) were reviewed. Ultrasound point shear wave elastography and 2-dimensional shear wave elastography were used to assess liver stiffness; median shear wave velocity was translated to METAVIR fibrosis scoring, per previously published data. Read More

J Diabetes Res 2018 12;2018:5205126. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

Department of Internal Medicine, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.

The prevalence of diabetes is steadily rising, and once it occurs, it can cause multiple complications with a negative impact on the whole organism. Complications of diabetes may be macrovascular: such as stroke and ischemic heart disease as well as peripheral vascular and microvascular diseases-retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Key factors that cause cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes include hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation, hypertension, autonomic dysfunction, and decreased vascular response capacity. Read More

Ital J Food Saf 2018 Sep 7;7(3):7684. Epub 2018 Nov 7.

Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro".

Cadmium (Cd) concentrations were evaluated in the samples of kidney, liver and muscle of sixty-six buffaloes regularly slaughtered. Forty were raised in Campania, in the territory between the province of Naples and Caserta and twenty-six were bred in Apulia, in the province of Bari. Two aliquots were prepared for the renal and hepatic samples: one intended for the chemical analysis and the other one intended for histological investigations. Read More

J Radiosurg SBRT 2018 ;5(4):261-267

Division of Radiation Oncology, Allegheny Health Network, 320 East North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, USA.

Introduction: To report on SBRT as a bridge to OLT for patients with HCC and Child-Pugh ≥8 cirrhosis.

Methods: Retrospective review of 15 patients, treated from 2010-2017. Three patients excluded secondary to delisting from prohibitive substance. Read More

Oxid Med Cell Longev 2018 14;2018:6256802. Epub 2018 Nov 14.

Key Laboratory for Deep Processing of Major Grain and Oil, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430023, China.

Diets containing various docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) ratios protect against liver damage in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD). However, it is unclear whether these beneficial roles of DHA and EPA are associated with alterations of fatty acid (FA) composition in the liver. This study evaluated the positive impacts of n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) containing different DHA/EPA ratios on HFD-induced liver disease and alterations of the hepatic FA composition. Read More

Oxid Med Cell Longev 2018 13;2018:2976957. Epub 2018 Nov 13.

Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Institute of Hepatobiliary Diseases of Wuhan University, Transplant Center of Wuhan University, Hubei Key Laboratory of Medical Technology on Transplantation, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, China.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a complex process where multiple cellular and molecular pathways are involved. Few of those molecular pathways are under the direct influence of SIRT3 and its downstream mediators. SIRT3 plays a major role in the mechanism of IRI, and its activation has been shown to attenuate the deleterious effect of ROS during IRI via SOD2-, CYP-D-, and HIF-1-mediated pathways. Read More

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2018 12;2018:6716529. Epub 2018 Nov 12.

Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.

The potential toxicity of herbal drugs, particularly drug-induced liver injury (DILI), has received extensive attention as the use of Chinese herbal medicine has rapidly increased globally. As a classic Chinese patent medicine, Zhuang Gu Guan Jie Wan (ZGGJW) has been brought into focus recently because of its satisfactory therapeutic effects on osteoarthritis (OA) as well as its unanticipated side effects. This study aimed to decipher the puzzling phenomenon of liver injury developing in response to ZGGJW that varies by the subtype of OA. Read More

Stem Cells Int 2018 14;2018:7159465. Epub 2018 Nov 14.

Department of Infectious Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.

Recent studies have described beneficial effects of an infusion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from Wharton's jelly tissue, for the treatment of acute liver failure (ALF). However, data on the therapeutic potential of culture-expanded MSCs are lacking. We examined the therapeutic potential of passage five (P5) and ten (P10) human umbilical cord- (hUC-) MSCs via their transplantation into Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with D-galactosamine (D-GalN) and LPS-induced acute liver failure (ALF). Read More

J Oncol 2018 14;2018:6273947. Epub 2018 Nov 14.

Pancreatic Surgery Department, Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.

Purpose: Nonsurgical therapies, including biotherapy, chemotherapy, and liver-directed therapy, provided a limit survival benefit for PNET patients with hepatic metastases. With the development of liver resection technique, there was a controversy on whether to perform a liver resection for these patients.

Methods: A computerized search was made of the Medline/PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, and SinoMed (CBM) before March 2018. Read More

J Toxicol 2018 14;2018:5360496. Epub 2018 Nov 14.

Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia.

Liver fibrosis is characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix in chronic liver injury. Alcohol-induced fibrosis may develop into cirrhosis, one of the major causes of liver disease mortality. Previous studies have shown that alpha mangostin can decrease ratio of pSmad/Smad and pAkt/Akt in TGF--induced liver fibrosis model . Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2018 27;9:687. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology, Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal (IATS-CSIC), Castellón, Spain.

The Gh/Prl/Sl family has evolved differentially through evolution, resulting in varying relationships between the somatotropic axis and growth rates within and across fish species. This is due to a wide range of endogenous and exogenous factors that make this association variable throughout season and life cycle, and the present minireview aims to better define the nutritional and environmental regulation of the endocrine growth cascade over precisely defined groups of fishes, focusing on Mediterranean farmed fishes. As a result, circulating Gh and Igf-i are revitalized as reliable growth markers, with a close association with growth rates of gilthead sea bream juveniles with deficiency signs in both macro- or micro-nutrients. Read More

Front Pharmacol 2018 27;9:1344. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.

Accumulating data demonstrated that hepatic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was involved in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Long-term chronic hepatocyte death contributed to liver fibrosis initiation and progression. Previous researches reported that ER stress sensor inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α) was first activated in the process of liver fibrosis. Read More

J Pain Res 2018 21;11:2981-2990. Epub 2018 Nov 21.

Symptoms Biology Unit, National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), Bethesda, MD, USA.

Objectives: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic and often debilitating condition that is characterized by persistent fatigue, pain, bowel abnormalities, and sleep disturbances. Currently, there are no definitive prognostic or diagnostic biomarkers for FMS. This study attempted to utilize a novel predictive algorithm to identify a group of genes whose differential expression discriminated individuals with FMS diagnosis from healthy controls. Read More

Clin Exp Gastroenterol 2018 23;11:431-438. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Al Tahrir Hospital, Giza, Egypt.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess serum levels of endocan & VEGF in patients with hepatitis C virus-related HCC and their diagnostic and predictive value of mortality.

Methods: A total of 195 patients with CHC were subdivided into the following two groups: 105 HCV cirrhotic patients with HCC and 90 HCV cirrhotic patients without HCC. Sixty apparently healthy subjects served as the control group. Read More

Int J Nanomedicine 2018 23;13:7931-7938. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,

Objective: The objective of this study was to verify and confirm the oxidative-mediated hepatotoxicity, inflammatory liver damage, and oxidative stress induced by intraperitoneal administration of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in vivo; characterize the effect of different natural antioxidants on these hazardous changes; and finally choose the most powerful antioxidant among these different natural antioxidants.

Methods: Ten-nanometer GNPs were dissolved in aqueous solution of 0.01% concentration. Read More

Indian J Surg Oncol 2018 Dec 18;9(4):461-471. Epub 2018 May 18.

2Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.

The most common site of blood-borne metastases from colorectal cancers (CRC) is the liver. Resection of (liver) metastases is a part of standard treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Hepatic resection is the first-line treatment of liver metastases, with 5-year survival rates between 25 and 58%. Read More

Indian J Surg Oncol 2018 Dec 18;9(4):456-460. Epub 2018 May 18.

2Department of Surgery, Westchester Medical Center, 100, Woods Road, Valhalla, NY 10523 USA.

The liver is the most common site for metastasis from colorectal cancers (CRCs). There are so many new armamentarium, which have increased the life expectancy and progression-free survival. There are various available guidelines, such as NCCN, ESMO, and ASCO, which provide an insight into the latest modalities and new protocols. Read More

Int J Obes (Lond) 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Food Science and Technology, Keimyung University, Daegu, 42601, Republic of Korea.

Background: Suppression of adipogenesis has been considered as a potential target for the prevention and treatment of obesity and associated metabolic disorders, and the nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1/Nur77) and AMPKα are known to play important roles during early and intermediate stages of adipogenesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that dual targeting Nur77 and AMPKα would show strong inhibitory effect on adipogenesis.

Methods: We screened a herbal medicine-based small molecule library to identify novel natural compounds dual targeting Nur77 and AMPKα, and the antiadipogenic effects and mechanisms of action of a "hit" compound were studied in 3T3-L1 cells. Read More

Cell Death Dis 2018 Dec 11;9(12):1186. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.

Hepatocirrhosis is one of the most severe complications of chronic hepatic disease in terms of medical intervention, and the available therapies are limited and not very successful. In this study, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) from host rats were transduced with an adenoviral vector labelled with green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to overexpress hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). The therapeutic effect of these modified stem cells (HGF-BM-MSC group) transplanted intravenously into hepatocirrhosis model rats treated with CCl was evaluated using serological, biochemical and histological approaches. Read More

Perfusion 2018 Dec 11:267659118815104. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

4 Anesthesiology, Heart Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.

The correct selection and placement of a single-site Avalon Elite Dual Lumen Cannula for veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in children weighing less than 20 kg is dependent on both the mechanical characteristics of the catheter, including length and diameter, as well as the unique vascular anatomic considerations of the patient. This manuscript describes the development of a clinical strategy, over a four-year period from 2012-2016, for cannula selection to reduce the risk of migration and malposition in 20 critically ill children weighing less than 20 kg who presented for veno-venous ECMO. Read More

J Cardiol Cases 2012 Sep 23;6(3):e81-e83. Epub 2012 Jun 23.

Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Kochi Medical School, Kohasu, Oko-cho, Nankoku-shi, Kochi 783-8505, Japan.

A 76-year-old female taking oral medications for chronic atrial fibrillation and hypertension was admitted to our hospital for examination of bilateral leg edema. Transthoracic echocardiography showed an enlarged coronary sinus of about 40 mm. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed absence of the left innominate vein, a persistent left superior vena cava, and absence of the hepatic segment of the inferior vena cava. Read More

Nat Commun 2018 12 6;9(1):5214. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Obesity increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) especially in men, but the molecular mechanism remains obscure. Here, we show that an androgen receptor (AR)-driven oncogene, cell cycle-related kinase (CCRK), collaborates with obesity-induced pro-inflammatory signaling to promote non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related hepatocarcinogenesis. Lentivirus-mediated Ccrk ablation in liver of male mice fed with high-fat high-carbohydrate diet abrogates not only obesity-associated lipid accumulation, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, but also HCC development. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 11;51(5):2484-2495. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Hepatic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China.

Background/aims: The age-bilirubin-international normalized ratio-creatinine (ABIC) score, which is a predictive model commonly used for alcoholic hepatitis, has not yet been studied in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (HBV-ACLF). We aimed to investigate the predictive value of the ABIC score in patients with HBV-ACLF.

Methods: This retrospective study involved 398 patients diagnosed with HBV-ACLF, who were divided into a training cohort of 305 patients and a validation cohort of 93 patients. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 11;51(5):2397-2420. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Research Center for Nutrition and Food Safety, Institute of Military Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chongqing,

Background/aims: Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic organelles that store neutral lipids during times of energy excess, and an increased accumulation of LDs in the liver is closely linked to hepatic steatosis. Our previous studies suggested that resveratrol (RSV) supplement could improve hepatic steatosis, but the underlying mechanism, particularly which related to LD accumulation, has not yet been elucidated.

Methods: A high-fat diet (HFD) and palmitic acid were used to induce hepatic steatosis in mouse liver and hepatocytes, respectively. Read More

Eur Surg Res 2018 Dec 11;59(5-6):349-360. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Background: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols are multimodal perioperative care pathways designed to achieve early recovery after surgical procedures by maintaining preoperative organ function and reducing profound stress responses following surgery [Wilmore and Kehlet: BMJ 2001; 322(7284): 473-6]. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAgs), such as liraglutide, have recently been widely used as antidiabetic agents in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) because they maintain blood glucose at an ideal level throughout the day, including during postprandial periods, thereby improving hypoglycemia and body weight more than insulin therapies. Additionally, the administration of liraglutide may exert cardiovascular, renal, and cerebral protective effects in T2D patients. Read More

Med Princ Pract 2018 Dec 10. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

Objective: Diabetic complications involve multiple pathological pathways, including hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and inflammation. Combination therapy is usually employed to improve treatment outcomes and to lower potential adverse effects. In this study, we evaluated the effects of antidiabetic and antihypertensive agents, glibenclamide (GLI) and losartan (LT), on diabetes-associated metabolic changes in rats. Read More