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ObjectiveTo summarize the liver biopsy and clinical features of patients with liver injury of unknown origin， and to investigate the value of ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy in the diagnosis of liver injury of unknown origin. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data and ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy results of 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin who were admitted to Zhongshan Hospital， Xiamen University， from January 2018 to February 2023. According to the proportion of the patients with different final diagnoses， the patients were divided into autoimmune liver disease （AILD） group， metabolic associated fatty liver disease （MAFLD） group， drug-induced liver injury （DILI） group， alcoholic liver disease （ALD） group， and unknown group. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups， and the Bonferroni analysis or the Dunnett’ T3 test was used for further comparison between two groups； the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups； the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups. ResultsAll 94 patients with liver injury of unknown origin underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy after admission， among whom 90 patients （95.7%） had a confirmed diagnosis based on liver biopsy and clinical features. There were 43 patients （45.7%） with AILD， 21 （22.3%） with MAFLD， 15 （16.0%） with DILI， 6 （6.4%） with ALD， 1 （1.1%） with AILD and MAFLD， 1 （1.1%） with hemochromatosis， 1 （1.1%） with Budd-Chiari syndrome， 1 （1.1%） with congenital hepatic fibrosis， and 1 （1.1%） with idiopathic portal hypertension， while 4 patients （4.3%） still had an unknown etiology after liver biopsy. There were significant differences between the patients with top five diagnoses in age （F=4.457， P<0.05） ， body mass index （BMI） （F=3.245， P<0.05）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST） （H=11.128， P<0.05）， gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase （GGT） （H=24.789， P<0.05）， alkaline phosphatase （ALP） （H=26.013， P<0.05）， IgG （H=19.099， P<0.05）， IgM （H=21.263， P<0.05）， AMA-M2 positive rate （P<0.05）， and ANA positive rate （P<0.05）. Compared with the MAFLD group， the AILD group had significantly higher age， AST， GGT， and ALP and a significantly lower BMI； compared with the MAFLD group and the DILI group， the AILD group had significant increases in IgG and IgM； the AILD group had significant increases in the positive rates of AMA-M2 and ANA compared with the other four groups. ConclusionAILD， MAFLD， and DILI are the most common causes in patients with liver injury of unknown origin. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous liver biopsy plays an important role in determining the cause of liver injury of unknown origin， but it is still needed to make a comprehensive analysis based on clinical history， different types of liver injury， laboratory markers， and imaging data.
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Background:Drug-induced liver injury( DILI)is a kind of commonly seen diseases,in which typical clinical manifestations are lacking and misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis are frequently occurred. Aims:To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with DILI. Methods:Clinical data of patients with DILI at Zhongshan Hospital,Xiamen University from January 2014 to December 2015 were collected. Clinical characteristics were retrospectively analyzed and the relationship between clinical characteristics and prognosis was investigated. Results:A total of 51 patients with DILI were enrolled,the ratio of male to female was 1∶ 1. 32,the average age at diagnosis was(50. 6 ± 17. 9)years old,the highest proportion(43. 1% )of patients were aged 60 and older. Hepatocellular damage was the main type of liver injury (84. 3% ). Chinese herbs,cardiovascular drugs,hormone and endocrine drugs were the most common drugs causing DILI, which accounted for 51. 0% ,19. 6% and 9. 8% ,respectively. Concomitant diseases of DILI covered many systems. The clinical manifestation of DILI was atypical,and the laboratory examination also lacked specificity. The positivity rate of autoimmune antibody was 5. 9% . Most patients had good prognosis,and the cure rate and improvement rate were 21. 6%and 66. 7% ,respectively. The mortality rate was 5. 9% with the cause of death being liver failure. Levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),total bilirubin(TBIL),albumin,prothrombin time(PT) and international normalized ratio( INR) at admission were correlated significantly with prognosis( P ﹤ 0. 05 ). Conclusions:DILI commonly occurs in elderly population,and inappropriate use of Chinese herbs maybe the important cause. The clinical manifestation of DILI is not typical,and most patients have good prognosis. Levels of ALT,AST, TBIL,albumin,PT and INR at admission are correlated significantly with prognosis.
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Objective To investigate mutation patterns in core promoter(CP)region of hepatitis B virus(HBV).Methods HBV DNA was extracted from sera of patients with chronic HBV infection.The CP sequence was amplified by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)and cloned into pMD19 T vector.The positive clones were then sequenced.The sequences were compared with known HBV genome in GenBank to identify the mutation sites and patterns of patients with chronic HBV infection.Results There were 74 clones from 21 patients with chronic HBV infection which were sequenced.The sequence comparisons showed that there was a 234-nucleotide deletion in CP region of HBV genome in 54 clones and a 245-nucleotide deletion in one clone.These deletion regions included CP,HBeAg initiation codon and direct repeat sequence(DR)Ⅰ regions,which named CP deletion(CPD).A1585T replacement mutation was also found in HBV strain with CPD,which indicated that there was linkage between these two mutations.Conclusions A novel mechanism of HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B is observed,which includes deletions of CP and HBeAg initiation codon.Meanwhile,a simple and useful PCR method is developed to detect CPD.