Association of preoperative antiviral treatment with incidences of post-hepatectomy liver failure in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is a common consequence of radical partial hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AIMS: To investigate the relationship between preoperative antiviral therapy and PHLF, as well as assess the potential efficacy of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level in predicting PHLF. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed involving 1301 HCC patients with HBV who underwent radical hepatectomy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the capacity of HBV DNA to predict PHLF and establish the optimal cutoff value for subsequent analyses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the independent risk factors of PHLF. The increase in the area under the ROC curve, categorical net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were used to quantify the efficacy of HBV DNA level for predicting PHLF. The P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses showed that preoperative antiviral therapy was independently associated with a reduced risk of PHLF (P < 0.05). HBV DNA level with an optimal cutoff value of 269 IU/mL (P < 0.001) was an independent risk factor of PHLF. All the reference models by adding the variable of HBV DNA level had an improvement in area under the curve, categorical NRI, and IDI, particularly for the fibrosis-4 model, with values of 0.729 (95%CI: 0.705-0.754), 1.382 (95%CI: 1.341-1.423), and 0.112 (95%CI: 0.110-0.114), respectively. All the above findings were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In summary, preoperative antiviral treatment can reduce the incidence of PHLF, whereas an increased preoperative HBV DNA level has a correlative relationship with an increased susceptibility to PHLF.

Impact of COD/N on anammox granular sludge with different biological carriers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of COD/N interference on mature anammox granular sludge formed by different biological carriers. Three anammox granular sludge rectors were established with no biological carriers (R1), GAC (R2) and PVA-gel bead (R3), respectively. As the COD/N ratio increased to 1:2, the activity of anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria in R1 and R2 was significantly inhibited. However, the nitrogen removal effect of R3 did not decrease dramatically, and the nitrogen removal rate in this phase was 1.54 ± 0.05 kg N/m3·d. As the COD/N ratio increased to 1:1.5, the removal of NH4+-N in all reactors gradually decreased. The order of COD resistance of the three reactors in this study was R3 > R2 > R1. It was found that Candidatus Brocadia might be sensitive to the presence of organic matter. The abundance of heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria increased gradually in each reactor under increased influent COD/N ratios.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii in Slaughter Pigs in Shaanxi Province, Northwestern China.

Toxoplasma gondii is an important food-borne zoonotic protozoan parasite, which can infect endothermic animals, including pigs. However, data on T. gondii in slaughter pigs in Shaanxi Province were still lacking. To detect the seroprevalence and analyze the risk factors of T. gondii infection in slaughter pigs in Shaanxi Province, Northwestern China, a total of 784 serum samples were collected from four administrative regions and detected by indirect hemagglutination test for T. gondii infection. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 19.9% (156/784) slaughter pigs. Moreover, the seropositive rate was different among rearing systems (31% in nonintensive pig farms and 6.7% in intensive pig farms), genders (19.8% in male and 20.0% in female), and regions (ranging from 6.7% in Shenmu to 38.2% in Zhouzhi). Rearing system and region were identified as risk factors for T. gondii infection. These results showed that T. gondii is highly prevalent in slaughter pigs in Shaanxi Province, and it could cause a serious risk to public health. This study provided fundamental information for the prevention and control of T. gondii infection in slaughter pigs in China.