Value of five noninvasive diagnostic methods for liver cirrhosis in diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome types in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the association of five noninvasive diagnostic methods for liver cirrhosis, i.e., liver stiffness measurement (LSM) on FibroScan, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (GPR), and red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR), with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 327 patients who were diagnosed with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis in The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine from January 2017 to January 2020, and based on their TCM syndrome type, they were divided into liver depression and spleen deficiency group with 160 patients, liver-gallbladder damp-heat syndrome group with 84 patients, liver-kidney Yin deficiency group with 13 patients, spleen-kidney Yang deficiency group with 5 patients, and blood stasis obstructing the collaterals group with 65 patients. Related data were collected, including clinical data, routine blood test results, liver function, LSM, and color Doppler ultrasound findings of liver, gallbladder, spleen, and pancreas. TCM syndrome differentiation was performed, and the models of APRI, FIB-4, GPR, and RPR were established. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t -test was used for further comparison between two groups; the multiple independent samples Kruskal-Wallis H rank sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the one- way Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA (k-sample) was used for multiple comparison; the binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between TCM syndrome types and non-invasive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic capability of five noninvasive methods for predicting TCM syndrome type in compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis. Results The logistic regression analysis showed that in the liver-gallbladder damp-heat syndrome group, aspartate aminotransferase OR =1.981, 95% CI : 1.8225-2.139, P < 0.05), and LSM ( OR =2.002, 95% CI : 1.840-2.160, P < 0.05) were influencing factors for compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis; in the liver depression and spleen deficiency group, portal vein width ( OR =4.402, 95% CI : 4.050-4.754, P < 0.05), LSM ( OR =3.901, 95% CI : 3.589-4.213, P < 0.05), APRI ( OR =1.891, 95% CI : 1.740-2.042, P < 0.05), and FIB-4 ( OR =1.845, 95% CI : 1.697-1.993, P < 0.05) were influencing factors for compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis; in the blood stasis obstructing the collaterals group, LSM ( OR =2.465, 95% CI : 2.268-2.662, P < 0.05), APRI ( OR =1.298, 95% CI : 1.194-1.402, P < 0.05), and FIB-4 ( OR =1.849, 95% CI : 1.701-1.997, P < 0.05) were influencing factors for compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis. The ROC curve analysis showed that LSM and RPR had a significantly better diagnostic value than the other methods in evaluating liver-gallbladder damp-heat syndrome, and LSM and FIB-4 had a significantly better diagnostic value than the other methods in evaluating liver depression and spleen deficiency; all five noninvasive diagnostic methods had a good value in evaluating the syndrome of blood stasis obstructing the collaterals. Conclusion The five noninvasive diagnostic methods have their own advantages in evaluating different syndrome types, which provide a reference for the diagnosis of TCM syndrome types in patients with compensated hepatitis B cirrhosis.

Preliminary evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibitors as a salvage treatment of tumor recurrence after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective:To explore the safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICI)for patients with tumor recurrence after liver transplantation(LT).Methods:A single-center retrospective study was conducted for 6 recipients of tumor recurrence after LT on a therapy of ICI admitted into Shulan(Hang Zhou)Hospital from September 2015 to June 2018.The authors examined the occurrences of graft rejection and clinical outcomes of overall response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival after dosing of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.Results:Six patients enrolled with tumor recurrence on a therapy of ICI undergoing LT due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nivolumab (n=4) and duvalizumab (n=2) were administrated.The median session of treatment was 8.3(2-31) cycles.The disease outcomes were stable (3/6, 50%) and progressive (3/6, 50%), The progression-free survival time of 3 disease-controlled patients was 1.5, 16.2 and 18 months and the median survival time after recurrence was 19.75(10.8-37.8) months.Rejection occurred in 1 patients (1/6, 16.7%) and the occurring time of rejection was 28 days after PD-1 inhibitor dosing.After acute rejection, high-dose corticosteroids and immunoglobulin were ineffective and the patient died from acute rejection related liver failure.Conclusions:ICI may be employed as a salvage treatment for tumor recurrence after LT for HCC.Due to a possibility of severe acute rejection, usage should be cautious under close monitoring of liver function.

Performance of controlled attenuation parameter measured by FibroScan in the diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its association with traditional Chinese medicine syndrome types / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the application value of controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) of hepatocyte steatosis measured by FibroScan in the diagnosis and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome differentiation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for related data of 364 patients with NAFLD who attended The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2017 to December 2019, including basic information (age, sex, and body mass index [BMI]), CAP measured by FibroScan, ultrasound findings of the liver, gallbladder, spleen, and pancreas, liver function parameters, and blood lipid parameters. TCM syndrome differentiation was performed based on the information obtained by four diagnostic methods, and then the patients were divided into liver depression and spleen deficiency group, damp turbidity and stagnation group, damp-heat accumulation group, intermingled phlegm and blood stasis group, and spleen-kidney deficiency group. The association of CAP, color Doppler ultrasound findings, liver function parameters, blood lipid parameters, and BMI with TCM syndrome was analyzed. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t -test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H rank sum test with multiple sets of independent samples was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups and further comparison between two groups. The chi-square test or Kruskal-Wallis H rank sum test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups and further comparison between two groups. A Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between CAP and ultrasound grading. Results Among the 364 patients with NAFLD, 169 had the syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency, 71 had the syndrome of damp turbidity and stagnation, 60 had the syndrome of damp-heat accumulation, 41 had the syndrome of intermingled phlegm and blood stasis, and 23 had the syndrome of spleen-kidney deficiency. There was a significant difference in CAP value between the different syndrome types ( F =14.839, P < 0.001), and further comparison between two groups showed that the spleen-kidney deficiency group and the intermingled phlegm and blood stasis group had a significantly higher CAP value than the liver depression and spleen deficiency group, the damp turbidity and stagnation group, and the damp-heat accumulation group (all P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in ultrasound grading between the different syndrome types ( χ 2 =22.947, P < 0.001); the liver depression and spleen deficiency group mainly had a mild grade (40.2%), the damp turbidity and stagnation group and the damp-heat accumulation group mainly had a moderate grade (53.5% and 53.3%, respectively), and the intermingled phlegm and blood stasis group and the spleen-kidney deficiency group mainly had a severe grade (68.3% and 43.5%, respectively). CAP was positively correlated with the severity of fatty liver ( r =0.431, P < 0.001). The spleen-kidney deficiency group and the intermingled phlegm and blood stasis group had significantly higher levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, and BMI than the other three groups (all P < 0.001). Conclusion Association is observed between CAP and the TCM syndrome types of NAFLD, and patients with the syndrome of spleen-kidney deficiency and the syndrome of intermingled phlegm and blood stasis have a higher CAP value than those with the other syndrome types. CAP has similar efficiency to color Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis of NAFLD.

Immune response triggered by the ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma with nanosecond pulsed electric field / 医学前沿

Nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) is a novel, nonthermal, and minimally invasive modality that can ablate solid tumors by inducing apoptosis. Recent animal experiments show that nsPEF can induce the immunogenic cell death of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and stimulate the host's immune response to kill residual tumor cells and decrease distant metastatic tumors. nsPEF-induced immunity is of great clinical importance because the nonthermal ablation may enhance the immune memory, which can prevent HCC recurrence and metastasis. This review summarized the most advanced research on the effect of nsPEF. The possible mechanisms of how locoregional nsPEF ablation enhances the systemic anticancer immune responses were illustrated. nsPEF stimulates the host immune system to boost stimulation and prevail suppression. Also, nsPEF increases the dendritic cell loading and inhibits the regulatory responses, thereby improving immune stimulation and limiting immunosuppression in HCC-bearing hosts. Therefore, nsPEF has excellent potential for HCC treatment.

Expression and Significance of Heat Shock Protein 27 Druing Carcinogenesis of Esophageal Squamous Epithelium / 中国基层医药

Objective To investigate the expression of heat shock protein 27(HSP27)in esophageal squamous carcinoma,mucosa adjacent to carcinoma and normal esophageal mucosa,and its relationship with the carcinogenesis of esophageal carcinoma.Methods The expression of HSP27 was observed in 86 specimens from esophageal squamous carcinoma,86 from mucosa adjacent to carcinoma and 75 from normal esophageal mucosa by immunohistochemistry.Results The expression of HSP27 in esophageal squamous carcinomas was higher than those in mucosa adjacent to carcinoma(P ＜ 0.05);the expression of HSP27 in mucosa adjacent to carcinoma was higher than those in normal esophageal mucosa(P ＜0.001).There was no significant difference in the expression of HSP27 in esophageal squamous carcinomas with different differentiation degree(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Expression of HSP27 was associated with the carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous carcinoma.