Accuracy of the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Test in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Its Clinical Implications.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The diagnostic performance of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score (NFS) is poor in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We determined the usefulness of the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) test in patients with T2DM. METHODS: A total of 1228 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD were enrolled. The diagnostic performance of the ELF test for predicting advanced fibrosis in participants with or without T2DM was evaluated in comparison with the FIB-4 index and NFS. RESULTS: Overall, the area under the curve of the ELF test for predicting advanced fibrosis was greater (0.828) than that of the FIB-4 index (0.727) and NFS (0.733). The diagnostic performance of the ELF test (area under the curve, 0.820) was also superior to that of the FIB-4 index (0.698) and NFS (0.700) in patients with T2DM. With the low cutoff values for each noninvasive test, the ELF test provided an acceptable false negative rate (cutoff value 9.8, 6.7%) in this population, unlike the FIB-4 index (1.30, 14.5%) and NFS (-1.455, 12.4%). After propensity score matching to avoid selection bias including age, sex, body mass index, and the prevalence of advanced fibrosis, the ELF test with a low cutoff value showed a high sensitivity (≥91.4%) and a high negative predictive value (≥96.8%), irrespective of the presence or absence of T2DM. CONCLUSIONS: The high diagnostic performance of the ELF test for predicting advanced fibrosis in individuals with or without T2DM could address an unmet medical need for accurate assessment of liver fibrosis in patients with diabetes and NAFLD.

Safety/efficacy of atezolizumab + bevacizumab during anti-platelet/anticoagulation therapy in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab + bevacizumab therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients receiving anti-platelet agents or anticoagulants. METHODS: Patients were divided into those using (IM out) and those not using (IM in) anti-platelet agents or anticoagulants, who violated the exclusion criteria of the IMbrave150 trial, and were retrospectively examined. RESULTS: The study included 185 patients (IM in: 157; IM out: 28). For first-line treatment, progression-free survival was 184 days for IM in and 266 days for IM out (p = .136). Overall survival was 603 days for IM in and not reached for IM out (p = .265), with no significant between-group difference. Similarly, there were no significant between-group differences in progression-free survival or overall survival for later-line treatment. Haemorrhagic adverse events of ≥grade 3 were observed in 11 IM in patients and 3 IM out patients. No significant factors associated with haemorrhagic adverse events of ≥grade 3 were identified in the multivariate analysis including IM out classification, whose p value was .547. Regarding thrombotic/embolic adverse events in the IM out group, one case of exacerbation of portal vein thrombosis was observed. No deaths were directly attributable to bleeding events or exacerbations of thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Atezolizumab + bevacizumab therapy shows similar safety and efficacy in patients receiving and those not receiving anti-platelet agents or anticoagulants; therefore, it can be considered for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving anti-platelet agents or anticoagulants.

Hypocalcemia and cardiovascular mortality in cinacalcet users.

BACKGROUND: Calcimimetics are widely used in hemodialysis patients and influence serum calcium levels. Although the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines argued that low calcium levels induced by calcimimetics may be harmless, large observational studies investigating the association between hypocalcemia and mortality are scarce. We investigated the association between serum calcium levels and cardiovascular mortality in calcimimetics users using the nationwide Japanese registry for dialysis patients. METHODS: In this 9-year prospective cohort study, the baseline data were collected at the end of 2009. We enrolled patients on maintenance hemodialysis or hemodiafiltration. We employed three models (baseline, time-dependent and time-averaged) to conduct Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. RESULTS: Cinacalcet was prescribed to 12.7% (N = 22 853) at baseline. The median observation period was 98 (interquartile range 40-108) months and 108 (interquartile range 59-108) months in the whole cohort (N = 180 136) and in cinacalcet users, respectively. Three-quarters of survivors at the end of 2019 had continued calcimimetic therapy for 10 years, corresponding to a mean annual dropout rate of 2.9%. Hypocalcemia was not associated with cardiovascular mortality in the baseline or time-averaged model. In the time-dependent model, however, the lowest calcium decile (corrected calcium <8.4 mg/dL) was significantly associated with higher cardiovascular mortality than the reference (corrected calcium 8.7-8.9 mg/dL) in both cinacalcet users and all patients [hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.32 (1.00, 1.75) and 1.15 (1.05, 1.26), respectively]. Hypocalcemia was especially associated with sudden death and death due to hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure and ischemic heart disease. Higher rate of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events was observed in hypocalcemic patients regardless of cinacalcet usage. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that transient hypocalcemia was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death independent of cinacalcet usage. We should pay attention to hypocalcemia transiently induced by cinacalcet.

IgM to IgG Class Switching Is a Necessary Step for Pemphigus Phenotype Induction in Desmoglein 3-Specific B Cell Receptor Knock-in Mouse.

Pemphigus vulgaris is an autoimmune blistering disease caused by IgG targeting desmoglein 3 (Dsg3), an adhesion molecule of keratinocytes. Anti-Dsg3 IgG production is prevented in healthy individuals, but it is unclear how Dsg3-specific B cells are regulated. To clarify the immunological condition regulating Dsg3-specific B cells, a pathogenic anti-Dsg3 Ig (AK23) knock-in mouse was generated. AK23 knock-in B cells developed normally without undergoing deletion or acquiring an anergic phenotype in vivo. The knock-in B cells showed Ca2+ influx upon IgM cross-linking and differentiated into AK23-IgG+ B cells after LPS and IL-4 stimulation in vitro that induced a pemphigus phenotype after adoptive transfer into Rag2 -/- mice. However, the knock-in mouse itself produced AK23-IgM but little IgG without blisters in vivo. Dsg3 immunization and skin inflammation caused AK23-IgG production and a pemphigus phenotype in vivo. Furthermore, Fcgr2b deficiency or haploinsufficiency spontaneously induced AK23-IgG production and a pemphigus phenotype with poor survival rates in AK23 knock-in mice. To assess Fcgr2b involvement in Ig class-switch efficiency, postswitch transcripts of B cells were quantified and significantly higher in Fcgr2b -/- and Fcgr2b +/- mice than wild-type mice in a gene dose-dependent manner. Finally, RNA sequencing revealed reduced expression of FCGR2B and FcγRIIB-related genes in patient B cells. These results indicated that Dsg3-specific B cells do not spontaneously perform pathogenic class switching in vivo, and pemphigus phenotype induction was prevented under normal conditions. Attenuated FcγRIIB signaling is also one of the drivers for pathogenic class switching and is consistent with immunological features identified from clinical samples. This study unveiled a characteristic immune state silencing autoreactive B cells in mice.

Hepatitis B surface antigen glycan isomer is a predictor of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma during nucleoside/nucleotide analog therapy.

AIM: A recombinant monoclonal antibody against the hepatitis B surface antigen glycan isomer (HBsAgGi) was newly developed using the O-glycosylated PreS2 peptide in M-HBsAg of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C. However, the association between HBsAgGi and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during nucleoside/nucleotide analog (NA) therapy remains unknown. METHODS: A total of 112 HBV genotype C-infected patients who were treated with NA were included in this study. We assessed the association between HBV markers, including HBsAgGi and other conventional markers, and the development of HCC during NA therapy. RESULTS: Ten patients developed HCC during the follow-up period. Of the HBV markers, HBsAg (≤3.53 log IU/mL; p = 0.047), HBsAgGi/HBsAg ratio (≥1.10; p = 0.035), and HBV DNA (≤6.3 log copies/mL; p = 0.012) at baseline and HBsAg (≤3.19 log IU/mL; p = 0.033) and HBsAgGi/HBsAg ratio (≥1.09; p = 0.003) at 48 weeks after NA therapy were significantly associated with the development of HCC according to the log rank test. In contrast, no significant association was observed between HBsAgGi and the development of HCC. Multivariate analysis revealed that a platelet count at baseline ≤88 × 103/mm3 (p = 0.026; hazard ratio [HR], 10.577) and an HBsAgGi/HBsAg ratio at 48 weeks after NA therapy ≥1.09 (p = 0.040; HR, 10.099) were independently and significantly associated with the development of HCC. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a combination of on-treatment HBsAgGi and HBsAg predicts the development of HCC during NA therapy.

Validation study of age-independent fibrosis score (Fibrosis-3 index) in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Because the accuracy of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index for predicting liver fibrosis changes with age, the need for different cut-offs in various age groups has frequently been discussed. We developed the age-independent score, the Fibrosis-3 (FIB-3) index, and have shown its usefulness in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This study aimed to validate the diagnostic ability of the FIB-3 index to predict fibrosis progression using a large new patient cohort. METHODS: The ability of the FIB-3 index to predict liver fibrosis was analyzed by comparing it with that of the FIB-4 index using data from 1398 patients with MASLD enrolled in the Asia-based clinical outcome NAFLD study. RESULTS: The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for predicting fibrosis stage F3 or higher were not different between the FIB-3 and FIB-4 indices in the entire cohort. Using the single ideal cut-offs of the indices (3.41 for FIB-3 index and 2.01 for FIB-4 index), the predictive accuracy of the FIB-3 index was not significantly different from that of the FIB-4 index among patients aged <60 years; however, the accuracy of the FIB-3 index was significantly higher than that of the FIB-4 index in those aged ≥60 years (0.645 and 0.529, respectively; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The high ability of the FIB-3 index with a single cut-off to predict liver fibrosis in patients with MASLD was confirmed. The FIB-3 index could serve as a useful tool for assessing liver fibrosis regardless of age.

Survival benefit of living donor kidney transplantation in patients on hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND: Donors bravely donate their kidneys because they expect that living donor kidney transplantation (LKT) confers benefits to recipients. However, the magnitude of the survival benefit of LKT is uncertain. METHODS: This prospective cohort study used two Japanese nationwide databases for dialysis and kidney transplantation and included 862 LKT recipients and 285,242 hemodialysis (HD) patients in the main model and 5299 LKT recipients and 151,074 HD patients in the supplementary model. We employed time-dependent model in the main model and assessed the hazard ratio and the difference in the restricted mean survival time (RMST) between LKT recipients and HD patients. In the main analysis of the main model (LKT, N = 675; HD, N = 675), we matched LKT recipients with HD patients by age, sex, dialysis vintage, and cause of renal failure and excluded HD patients with dementia or performance status grades 2, 3, or 4. RESULTS: The median observational period was 8.00 (IQR 3.58-8.00) years. LKT was significantly associated with a lower risk of mortality (hazard ratios (95% confidence interval (CI)), 0.50 (0.35-0.72)) and an increase in life expectancy (7-year RMST differences (95% CI), 0.48 (0.35-0.60) years) compared with HD. In subgroup analysis, the survival benefit of LKT was greater in female patients than in male patients in the Cox model; whereas older patients gained longer life expectancy compared with younger patients. CONCLUSIONS: LKT was associated with better survival benefits than HD, and the estimated increase in life expectancy was 0.48 years for 7 years.

Association of abnormalities in electrocardiography and ultrasonic echocardiography with the occurrence of cardiovascular disease in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases with disease progression. CVD screening tests in those with CKD were researched to determine whether abnormalities observed in electrocardiography (ECG) and ultrasonic echocardiography (UCG) were risk factors associated with the development of CVD. METHODS: This study included 604 patients with CKD G4 and G5, for whom both ECG and UCG were performed. They were divided into four groups: those without ECG- and UCG-indicated abnormalities (group A, n = 333), with only ECG abnormalities (group B, n = 106), with only UCG abnormalities (group C, n = 75), and with both ECG and UCG abnormalities (group D, n = 90). Multivariate analysis using Cox regression analysis of the occurrence of CVD was performed during a follow-up period. RESULTS: During the observation period, 124 patients had clinical events. Among them, 45 patients (13.5%) were in Group A, 25 patients (23.6%) in Group B, 19 patients (25.3%) in Group C, and 35 patients (38.9%) in Group D, respectively. CVD event occurrence was highest in Group D. The results of the multivariate analysis also showed that the CVD event rates were significantly higher in Group C (HR: 2.96, P = < .001) and D (HR: 4.22, P < .001) than in Group A. CONCLUSION: In patients with advanced CKD, there was a significant correlation of ECG and UCG abnormalities with CVD events. Additionally, those having both types of abnormalities may have a higher risk of coronary artery disease than other groups.

Clinical Outcomes in Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients: A Multicenter Registry-based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: There are no detailed reports of clinical outcomes in Asian patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who undergo liver biopsy. We aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of a large cohort of Asian patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and evaluate the specific effects of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and fibrosis stage. METHODS: This multicenter registry-based retrospective cohort study, called the CLIONE (Clinical Outcome Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) in Asia, included 1398 patients. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 4.6 years (range, 0.3-21.6 years), representing a total of 8874 person-years of follow-up. During that time, 47 patients died, and 1 patient underwent orthotopic liver transplantation. The leading cause of death was nonhepatic cancer (n = 10). The leading causes of liver-related death were liver failure (n = 9), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (n = 8), and cholangiocellular carcinoma (n = 4). During follow-up, 37 patients developed HCC, 31 developed cardiovascular disease, and 68 developed nonhepatic cancer (mainly breast, stomach, and colon/rectum). Among our cohort of patients with NAFLD, liver-specific mortality was 2.34/1000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52-3.58), overall mortality was 5.34/1000 person-years (95% CI, 4.02-7.08), and HCC incidence was 4.17/1000 person-years (95% CI, 3.02-5.75). Liver fibrosis was independently associated with liver-related events but not overall mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Liver-related mortality was the leading cause of mortality in Asian patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD. Although fibrosis stage was independently associated with liver-related events, it was not associated with overall mortality after adjusting for confounders, such as histologic features of steatohepatitis.

Investigation of bone mineral density and the changes by enzyme replacement therapy in patients with Fabry disease.

BACKGROUND: Fabry disease (FD) is an inherited disorder that causes organ dysfunction. However, only a few studies have reported on bone mineral density (BMD) in FD patients, and the relationship between BMD and clinical factors such as globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3) remains unclear. Therefore, the current study sought to investigate BMD in FD patients, the relationship between BMD and lyso-Gb3, and the effects of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) on changes in BMD and lyso-Gb3. METHODS: This single-center, observational study included 15 patients who visited our facility for FD between January 2008 and June 2021. We assessed BMD and clinical characteristics in study patients, including plasma lyso-Gb3 levels, and examined the relationship between BMD and plasma lyso-Gb3 levels, and changes in BMD after starting ERT. RESULTS: Male patients' BMD had reduced, whereas female patients' BMD was preserved. Male patients had significantly higher plasma lyso-Gb3 levels than female patients. Moreover, plasma lyso-Gb3 levels were found to be significantly related to the lumbar spine and femoral BMD. These were strongly linked with plasma lyso-Gb3 levels in male patients, whereas no strong link was observed in female patients. Furthermore, BMD significantly increased only in male patients although plasma lyso-Gb3 levels significantly decreased by ERT in all patients. CONCLUSION: BMD decreased possibly due to Gb3 accumulation, and ERT could increase BMD in male FD patients.

Risk factors for liver-related and non-liver-related mortality following a sustained virological response after direct-acting antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus infection in a real-world cohort.

A direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-induced sustained virological response (SVR) reduces the risk of mortality. However, the risk factors associated with liver-related and non-liver-related mortality following a SVR after DAA treatment are unclear. We assessed the incidence and risk factors of liver-related and non-liver-related mortality in 1180 patients who achieved a SVR after DAA treatment. During the follow-up period after DAA treatment (median duration, 1099 [range: 84-2345] days), 53 (4.5%) patients died: 15 due to liver-related mortality, 25 due to non-liver-related mortality and 13 due to unknown causes. The all-cause, liver-related and non-liver-related mortality rates were 14.9, 4.2 and 7.0/1000 person-years, respectively. In a multivariate analysis, the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after DAA treatment (p = .009; hazard ratio [HR], 31.484), an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline ≤61.68 ml/min/1.73 m2 (p = .015; HR, 6.607), and an α-fetoprotein level post-treatment ≥7.6 ng/ml (p = .041; HR, 18.490) were significantly associated with liver-related mortality. Furthermore, eGFR ≤67.94 ml/min/1.73 m2 at baseline (p = .012; HR, 3.407) and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade ≥ 2 at SVR (p = .024; HR, 3.449) were significantly associated with non-liver-related mortality. Early diagnosis and therapeutic interventions for HCC development after DAA treatment are important to reduce liver-related mortality. The ALBI grade, which reflects the hepatic functional reserve, is a useful predictor of non-liver-related mortality after a SVR induced by DAA treatment. Furthermore, the renal dysfunction caused by metabolic syndrome may affect prognosis even after eliminating hepatitis C virus.

Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma at baseline and 1 year after initiation of nucleos(t)ide analog therapy for chronic hepatitis B.

Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) cannot completely suppress the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study aimed to identify the risk factors for HCC development in naïve CHB patients treated with current NA. Patients receiving NA (n = 905) were recruited retrospectively from the 17 hospitals of the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group. All treatment-naïve patients had been receiving current NA continuously for more than 1 year until the end of the follow-up. We analyzed the accuracy of predictive risk score using the area under receiver operating characteristic curve. The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score was significantly improved by NA therapy (-0.171 ± 0.396; p < 0.001 at Week 48). A total of 72 (8.0%) patients developed HCC over a median follow-up of 6.2 (1.03-15.7) years. An independent predictive factor of HCC development was older age, cirrhosis, lower platelet counts at baseline and ALBI score, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 1 year after NA therapy according to multivariate analysis. The accuracy was assessed using the PAGE-B, mPAGE-B, aMAP, APA-B, and REAL-B scores that included these factors. Discrimination was generally acceptable for these models. aMAP and REAL-B demonstrated high discrimination with 0.866/0.862 and 0.833/0.859 for 3- and 5-year prediction from the status of 1 year after NA therapy, respectively. Baseline age and platelet count, as well as ALBI and AFP one year after NA, were useful for stratifying carcinogenesis risk. The aMAP and REAL-B scores were validated with high accuracy in Japanese CHB patients.

Agile 3+ and Agile 4, noninvasive tests for liver fibrosis, are excellent formulae to predict liver-related events in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

AIM: The noninvasive tests (NITs) Agile 3+ and Agile 4 effectively identify patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) complicated with advanced fibrosis (F3-4) and cirrhosis (F4), respectively. Little information is available on associations between Agile scores and intra-/extrahepatic events. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive performance of Agile scores for intra-/extrahepatic events in Asian patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective multicenter cohort study to investigate associations between intra-/extrahepatic events and two Agile scores, Agile 3+ and Agile 4. The scores were obtained by combining clinical parameters and liver stiffness measurement using transient elastography. RESULTS: Among 403 enrolled patients, 11 had liver-related events (LREs), including seven with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of LREs and HCC showed a stepwise increase in the advanced fibrosis group (F3-4), Agile 3+ rule-in (F3-4, highly suspected), and Agile 4 rule-in (F4, highly suspected) groups, compared to their counterparts. Hazard ratios for LREs in the advanced fibrosis group, Agile 3+ rule-in, and Agile 4 rule-in groups were 4.05 (p = 0.03), 23.5 (p = 0.003), and 45.5 (p < 0.001), respectively. The predictive performance results for Agile 3+ and Agile 4 were 0.780 and 0.866, respectively, which were higher than for fibrosis (0.595). Unlike for LREs, Agile scores failed to identify patients with extrahepatic events, including cardiovascular events and extrahepatic cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Agile 3+ and Agile 4 scores are excellent NITs for predicting LREs in patients with NAFLD, possibly without histological assessment.

Validation of the utility of Agile scores to identify advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in Japanese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

AIM: Agile 3+ and Agile 4 scores, based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography and clinical parameters, were recently reported to be effective in identifying advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to validate the utility of these scores in Japanese patients with NAFLD. METHODS: Six hundred forty-one patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD were analyzed. The severity of liver fibrosis was pathologically evaluated by one expert pathologist. The LSM, age, sex, diabetes status, platelet count, and aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were used to calculate Agile 3+ scores, and the parameters above excluding age were used for Agile 4 scores. The diagnostic performance of the two scores was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the original low cut-off (for rule-out) value and high cut-off (for rule-in) value were tested. RESULTS: For diagnosis of fibrosis stage ≥3, the area under the ROC (AUROC) was 0.886, and the sensitivity of the low cut-off value and the specificity of the high cut-off value were 95.3% and 73.4%, respectively. For diagnosis of fibrosis stage 4, AUROC, the sensitivity of the low cut-off value, and the specificity of the high cut-off value were 0.930, 100%, and 86.5%, respectively. Both scores had higher diagnostic performance than the FIB-4 index and the enhanced liver fibrosis score. CONCLUSIONS: Agile 3+ and Agile 4 are reliable noninvasive tests to identify advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in Japanese NAFLD patients with adequate diagnostic performance.

Diagnostic accuracy of enhanced liver fibrosis test for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-related fibrosis: Multicenter study.

AIM: The enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) test is a noninvasive method for diagnosing hepatic fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This multicenter cohort study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the ELF test and compare it with other noninvasive tests in Japan. METHODS: We analyzed 371 Japanese patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. We constructed area under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROC) to determine the diagnostic accuracies of the ELF test, the Mac-2-binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi), the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, and combinations of these indices. RESULTS: In patients with F0/F1/F2/F3/F4 fibrosis, the median values of the ELF test were 8.98/9.56/10.39/10.92/11.41, respectively. The AUROCs of the ELF test for patients with F0 versus F1-4, F0-1 versus F2-4, F0-2 versus F3-4, and F0-3 versus F4 fibrosis were 0.825/0.817/0.802/0.812, respectively. The AUROCs of the ELF test were greater than those of the FIB-4 index and M2BPGi at each fibrosis stage. Respective low and high cut-off values yielded sensitivities and specificities for predicting advanced fibrosis (≥F3) of 91.1% and 50.8%, and 38.5% and 92.8%, respectively. For F3 or F4 fibrosis, the combined values from the ELF test and FIB-4 index showed a sensitivity of 98.5%, and the combined values from the ELF test and M2BPGi assay showed a specificity of 97.5%. CONCLUSIONS: In Japan, the ELF test predicts NAFLD-related fibrosis from its early stages. The diagnostic ability of the ELF test was not inferior to that of other indices, and the combined values of ELF plus other indices were more accurate.

Multicenter, retrospective, cohort study shows platelet counts predict hepatocellular carcinoma development in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

AIM: Impacts of platelet counts at the time of liver biopsy on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of platelet counts in patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD using data from a multicenter study. METHODS: One thousand three hundred ninety-eight patients were included in this subanalysis of the CLIONE (Clinical Outcome Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) in Asia study. Liver biopsy specimens were pathologically diagnosed, and histologically scored using the NASH Clinical Research Network system. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and pathological data were collected. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 4.6 years (range, 0.3-21.6 years), which corresponds to 8874 person-years, 37 patients developed HCC. Using a cut-off baseline platelet count of 192 × 109/L, the lower platelet group had a higher HCC rate than the higher platelet group (6.7% vs. 0.4%; p < 0.001). This cut-off value significantly stratified the event-free rate for HCC. Lower platelet counts were associated with an increased risk of HCC development. Relative to patients with platelet counts of 192 × 109/L, patients with platelet counts of 100 × 109/L had an unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) for HCC development of 7.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.81-14.2) and an adjusted HR of 11.2 (95% CI, 3.81-32.7; p < 0.001), adjusting for age, sex, NASH, and diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline platelet counts of 192 × 109/L and lower are associated with a higher risk of developing HCC in patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD and require active surveillance.

Prevalence and associated metabolic factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the general population from 2014 to 2018 in Japan: A large-scale multicenter retrospective study.

AIM: The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the recent prevalence and clinical characteristics of NAFLD in Japan. METHODS: This study initially included 410 061 retrospectively enrolled adults from the medical health checkup registry for metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, and fatty liver in Japan (MIRACLE-J; UMIN-CTR no. UMIN000049419), who were evaluated between 2014 and 2018 at 13 health centers in Japan. Individuals consuming >20 g of alcohol/day or with chronic liver disease were excluded. Fatty liver was diagnosed by ultrasonography. The probability of NAFLD with advanced fibrosis was estimated based on the fibrosis-4 index and NAFLD fibrosis score. RESULTS: A total of 71 254 participants were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 25.8%. There was a significant, twofold difference in NAFLD prevalence between men (37.4%) and women (18.1%). Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease prevalence increased linearly with body mass index, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol regardless of threshold values, even in the absence of obesity. Among patients with NAFLD, 14% had diabetes mellitus, 31% had hypertension, and 48% had dyslipidemia. The estimated prevalence of NAFLD with advanced fibrosis was 1.7% and 1.0% according to the fibrosis-4 index and NAFLD fibrosis score, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of NAFLD was approximately one-quarter of the general population in Japan. There was a linear relationship between NAFLD prevalence and various metabolic parameters, even in nonobese participants. The prevalence of NAFLD with advanced fibrosis was estimated to be 1%-2%.

Noninvasive tests predict liver-related events and mortality in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: sub-analysis of the CLIONE-Asia study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Noninvasive tests (NITs) have prognostic potential, but whether NITs are comparable with liver biopsy is unclear. This study aimed to examine the prognostic accuracy of NITs for liver-related mortality (LRM) and events (LREs) in patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS: We investigated 1313 patients with NAFLD. Patients were assigned to low-risk, indeterminate-risk, and high-risk groups using conventional cutoff values of each FIB-4 and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) and to stage 0-2 and stage 3-4 groups using the fibrosis stage. Survival and Cox regression analyses of the prognostic potential of NITs for LRM/LREs were conducted. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 4.5 years, regarding to FIB-4, the incidence rate (/1000 person-years) in the low risk was zero for LRM and 0.5 for LREs. In contrast, the rate in stage 0-2 was 1.3 for LRM and 2.8 for LRE. The adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for LREs in the high risk compared with the low risk were 32.85 (P < 0.01). The aHRs in stage 3-4 compared with stage 0-2 were 2.68 (P = 0.02) for LREs and 2.26 (P = 0.582) for LRM. In the same fibrosis stage, the incidence of LRM/LREs was more frequent with a higher risk stratification. The same trend was observed for NFS. CONCLUSIONS: NITs accurately predict LRM and LREs as well as a liver biopsy in Japanese patients with NAFLD. Patients in the low risk may not require close follow-up for at least 5 years. The simple NITs could be an acceptable alternative method to performing a liver biopsy for the prognosis of NAFLD.

Identification of clinical phenotypes associated with poor prognosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease via unsupervised machine learning.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Both fibrosis status and body weight are important for assessing prognosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was to identify population clusters for specific clinical outcomes based on fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index and body mass index (BMI) using an unsupervised machine learning method. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter study of 1335 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients from Japan. Using the Gaussian mixture model to divide the cohort into clusters based on FIB-4 index and BMI, we investigated prognosis for these clusters. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 223 cases (16.0%) with advanced fibrosis (F3-4) as assessed from liver biopsy. Median values of BMI and FIB-4 index were 27.3 kg/m2 and 1.67. The patients were divided into four clusters by Bayesian information criterion, and all-cause mortality was highest in cluster d, followed by cluster b (P = 0.001). Regarding the characteristics of each cluster, clusters d and b presented a high FIB-4 index (median 5.23 and 2.23), cluster a presented the lowest FIB-4 index (median 0.78), and cluster c was associated with moderate FIB-4 level (median 1.30) and highest BMI (median 34.3 kg/m2 ). Clusters a and c had lower mortality rates than clusters b and d. However, all-cause of death in clusters a and c was unrelated to liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our clustering approach found that the FIB-4 index is an important predictor of mortality in NAFLD patients regardless of BMI. Additionally, non-liver-related diseases were identified as the causes of death in NAFLD patients with low FIB-4 index.

Renal protective effects of astragalus root in rat models of chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Astragalus root is a commonly used herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Although renoprotective effects have been reported in some clinical and experimental studies, the details remain unknown. METHODS: We used 5/6 nephrectomized rats as chronic kidney disease (CKD) models. At 10 weeks, they were divided into four groups, namely, CKD, low-dose astragalus (AR400), high-dose astragalus (AR800), and sham groups. At 14 weeks, they were sacrificed for the evaluation of blood, urine, mRNA expression in the kidney, and renal histopathology. RESULTS: Kidney dysfunction was significantly improved following astragalus administration (creatinine clearance: sham group; 3.8 ± 0.3 mL/min, CKD group; 1.5 ± 0.1 mL/min, AR400 group; 2.5 ± 0.3 mL/min, AR800 group; 2.7 ± 0.1 mL/min). Blood pressure, urinary albumin, and urinary NGAL levels were significantly lower in the astragalus-treated groups than those in the CKD group. Excretion of urinary 8-OHdG, an oxidative stress marker, and intrarenal oxidative stress were lower in the astragalus-treated groups than those in the CKD group. Furthermore, the mRNA expression of NADPH p22 phox, NADPH p47 phox, Nox4, renin, angiotensin II type 1 receptor, and angiotensinogen in the kidney was lower in the astragalus-treated groups compared with the CKD group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that astragalus root slowed CKD progression, possibly through the suppression of oxidative stress and the renin-angiotensin system.