Impact of CT-relevant skeletal muscle parameters on post-liver transplantation survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The specific CT-related skeletal muscle parameters predictive of postoperative survival in liver transplant (LT) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. There is increasing evidence supporting the role of fatty acids and their lipid intermediates in regulating skeletal muscle mass and function, the relationship between lipoprotein subfractions and body composition remains unclear. METHODS: Adult patients with HCC who underwent LT between January 2015 and September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. CT parameters, including skeletal muscle index (SMI), psoas muscle index (PMI), skeletal muscle density (SMD), visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT), and the VAT/SAT ratio at the L3 level, and lipid profiles, were assessed prior to LT. RESULTS: Of the 284 LT patients with HCC, 224 underwent CT (L3 level) within 3 months of LT, and 82 (37%) were diagnosed with myosteatosis. Patients with myosteatosis exhibited significantly lower 1- and 3-year survival rates (p = 0.002, p = 0.01), a trend persisting even beyond the Milan criteria (p = 0.004, p = 0.04). After adjusting for covariates, SMD demonstrated a significant negative correlation with post-transplant survival (HR: 0.90, [95% Confidence Interval(CI): 0.83-0.98], C-statistic: 0.78, p = 0.009). Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A1(ApoA1) levels and SMD. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that every 10 Hounsfield unit decrease in SMD was associated with a 0.16 mmol/L decrease in HDL-C and a 0.18 g/L decrease in ApoA1. CONCLUSION: Routine abdominal CT scans for assessing skeletal muscle density before LT were significantly associated with post-transplant mortality. Furthermore, abnormal HDL-C and ApoA1 levels before LT were associated with myosteatosis.

Bacterial metabolism-triggered-chemiluminescence-based point-of-care testing platform for sensitive detection and photothermal inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus.

Post-operative pathogenic infections in liver transplantation seriously threaten human health. It is essential to develop novel methods for the highly sensitive and rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Interestingly, the combination of the property of bacteria to secrete hydrogen peroxidase, bacterial metabolism-triggered-chemiluminescence (CL)-based bioassays can be as a candidate point-of-care testing (POCT) for the detection of S. aureus against the CL substrate Luminol and hydrogen peroxide without excitation light sources. Here, a CL-based strategy with stable and visualized CL intensity was fabricated according to a hybrid biomimetic enzyme of copper-Hemin metal-organic framework, which enhances the biological enzyme activity while improving the stability and sensitivity of the assay. By further integrating S. aureus-specific capture and one-step separation of the antibody-modified Fe3O4 NPs (Fe3O4 NPs@Ab), the portable device integrated smartphone enables CL-based POCT for specific detection of S. aureus in the range of 101-106 CFU/mL with a limit of detection as low as 1 CFU/mL. Specifically, S. aureus can be eliminated after detection with high antibacterial efficiency due to the excellent photothermal properties of Fe3O4 NPs@Ab. The developed multifunctional platform has the advantages of simplicity of operation and low cost, indicating great potential in clinical applications.

An SGLT2 inhibitor modulates SHH expression by activating AMPK to inhibit the migration and induce the apoptosis of cervical carcinoma cells.

In addition to their hypoglycemic effect, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have many other benefits. In the present study, we examine the anticancer effect of the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin using cervical carcinoma models. In vivo antitumor activities of empagliflozin were observed in a nude mouse model. Empagliflozin intervention and downregulation of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling Molecule (Shh) inhibited the migration and promoted the apoptosis of cervical cancer cells in nude mice. Compared with the control group, the empagliflozin treatment group had an increased level of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and decreased levels of Forkhead Box A1 (FOXA1) and SHH in tumor tissue. In vitro experiments also showed that empagliflozin (50 µM) inhibited the migration of cervical cancer cells and induced their apoptosis by activating the AMPK/FOXA1 pathway and inhibiting the expression of SHH. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to determine the relationship between SHH expression and total survival time. The results showed that in cervical cancer patients, high SHH expression resulted in unfavorable overall survival. The downregulation of SHH with small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited the migration and invasion and promoted the apoptosis of HeLa cells. These findings show that empagliflozin has a potential therapeutic effect on cervical cancer. This effect was related to the activation of the AMPK pathway and the inhibition of SHH expression.