The application of real-time indocyanine green fluorescence cholangiography in laparoscopic living donor left lateral sectionectomy.

Background: The judgment of the division point of the bile duct has always been one of the difficulties of laparoscopic left lateral sectionectomy (LLLS). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence cholangiography during LLLS on the occurrence of biliary complications in both donors and recipients. The optimal dose and injection time of ICG were also investigated. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. From October 2016 to December 2022, the clinical data of 103 donors who underwent LLLS and relevant recipients were retrospectively analyzed. According to whether ICG fluorescence cholangiography was used, they were divided into a non-ICG group (n=46) and an ICG group (n=57). Biliary complications were observed and the optimal dose and injection time of ICG were explored. Results: Three donors in the non-ICG group suffered from bile leakage. Four grafts had multiple bile duct openings and biliary complications were observed in the relevant recipients who received these grafts in the non-ICG group. Two recipients had bile leakage, and the other two had biliary stenosis. There was no biliary complications both in donors and recipients in the ICG group. The fluorescence intensity of the liver was 108.1±17.6 at a dose of 0.004 mg/kg 90 minutes after injection, significantly weaker than that at 0.05 mg/kg 30 minutes (200.3±17.6, P=0.001) and 90 minutes after injection (140.2±15.4, P=0.001). The fluorescence intensity contrast value at a dose of 0.004 mg/kg was stronger than that at 0.05 mg/kg, both measured 90 minutes after injection (0.098±0.032 vs. 0.078±0.022, P=0.021). Conclusions: ICG fluorescence cholangiography is safe and feasible in LLLS. It reduces biliary complications in both donors and recipients. The optimal ICG dose was 0.004 mg/kg, and 90 minutes after injection was the best observation time. ICG fluorescence cholangiography is recommended for routine use in LLLS.

Ex vivo liver resection and auto-transplantation as an alternative for the treatment of liver malignancies: Progress and challenges.

Hepatectomy is still the major curative treatment for patients with liver malignancies. However, it is still a big challenge to remove the tumors in the central posterior area, especially if their location involves the retrohepatic inferior vena cava and hepatic veins. Ex vivo liver resection and auto-transplantation (ELRA), a hybrid technique of the traditional liver resection and transplantation, has brought new hope to these patients and therefore becomes a valid alternative to liver transplantation. Due to its technical difficulty, ELRA is still concentrated in a few hepatobiliary centers that have experienced surgeons in both liver resection and liver transplantation. The efficacy and safety of this technique has already been demonstrated in the treatment of benign liver diseases, especially in the advanced alveolar echinococcosis. Recently, the application of ELRA for liver malignances has gained more attention. However, standardization of clinical practice norms and international consensus are still lacking. The prognostic impact in these oncologic patients also needs further evaluation. In this review, we summarized the principles and recent progresses on ELRA.

The Absence of Intra-Tumoral Tertiary Lymphoid Structures is Associated with a Worse Prognosis and mTOR Signaling Activation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Liver Transplantation: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) can predict the prognosis and sensitivity of tumors to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy, whether it can be noninvasively predicted by radiomics in hepatocellular carcinoma with liver transplantation (HCC-LT) has not been explored. In this study, it is found that intra-tumoral TLS abundance is significantly correlated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Tumor tissues with TLS are characterized by inflammatory signatures and high infiltration of antitumor immune cells, while those without TLS exhibit uncontrolled cell cycle progression and activated mTOR signaling by bulk and single-cell RNA-seq analyses. The regulators involved in mTOR signaling (RHEB and LAMTOR4) and S-phase (RFC2, PSMC2, and ORC5) are highly expressed in HCC with low TLS. In addition, the largest cohort of HCC patients is studied with available radiomics data, and a classifier is built to detect the presence of TLS in a non-invasive manner. The classifier demonstrates remarkable performance in predicting intra-tumoral TLS abundance in both training and test sets, achieving areas under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of 92.9% and 90.2% respectively. In summary, the absence of intra-tumoral TLS abundance is associated with mTOR signaling activation and uncontrolled cell cycle progression in tumor cells, indicating unfavorable prognosis in HCC-LT.

Identification and validation of PCSK9 as a prognostic and immune-related influencing factor in tumorigenesis: a pan-cancer analysis.

Introduction: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin-9 (PCSK9) has been primarily studied in the cardiovascular field however, its role in cancer pathophysiology remains incompletely defined. Recently, a pivotal role for PCSK9 in cancer immunotherapy was proposed based on the finding that PCSK9 inhibition was associated with enhancing the antigen presentation efficacy of target programmed cell death-1 (PD-1). Herein, we provide results of a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of PCSK9 that assessed its prognostic and immunological functions in cancer. Methods: Using a variety of available online cancer-related databases including TIMER, cBioPortal, and GEPIA, we identified the abnormal expression of PCSK9 and its potential clinical associations in diverse cancer types including liver, brain and lung. We also validated its role in progression-free survival (PFS) and immune infiltration in neuroblastoma. Results: Overall, the pan-cancer survival analysis revealed an association between dysregulated PCSK9 and poor clinical outcomes in various cancer types. Specifically, PCSK9 was extensively genetically altered across most cancer types and was consistently found in different tumor types and substages when compared with adjacent normal tissues. Thus, aberrant DNA methylation may be responsible for PCSK9 expression in many cancer types. Focusing on liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), we found that PCSK9 expression correlated with clinicopathological characteristics following stratified prognostic analyses. PCSK9 expression was significantly associated with immune infiltrate since specific markers of CD8+ T cells, macrophage polarization, and exhausted T cells exhibited different PCSK9-related immune infiltration patterns in LIHC and lung squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, PCSK9 was connected with resistance of drugs such as erlotinib and docetaxel. Finally, we validated PCSK9 expression in clinical neuroblastoma samples and concluded that PCSK9 appeared to correlate with a poor PFS and natural killer cell infiltration in neuroblastoma patients. Conclusion: PCSK9 could serve as a robust prognostic pan-cancer biomarker given its correlation with immune infiltrates in different cancer types, thus potentially highlighting a new direction for targeted clinical therapy of cancers.

The m6A-related gene signature stratifies poor prognosis patients and characterizes immunosuppressive microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant epitranscriptomic modification of RNA, which can affect RNA metabolism and protein translation. The m6A modification plays a critical role in cancer development, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite several m6A-related signatures in HCC, most of them lack the necessary validation and the reliability is still elusive. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the Cancer Genome Atlas were comprehensively analyzed to identify m6A signature associated with HCC prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis, tumor mutation burden (TMB), immune infiltration, and therapeutic response were evaluated. Importantly, mass spectrometry proteomics and multiplex immunofluorescence assays were performed for validation. Results: The m6A-related protein-coding gene signature was established, which can divide HCC into high-/low-risk subgroups with markedly different overall survival (OS) and clinical stages. Furthermore, we validated its reliability and robustness in our 101 independent HCC specimens using proteomic detection and confirmed that our signature readily identified high-risk HCC patients with 3-year survival rates of 44.1% vs. 71.8% in the low-risk group. Functional analysis indicated that the high-risk group might stimulate the cell cycle and activate oncogenic pathways such as MAPK, mTOR, and VEGF, whereas the low-risk group mainly regulated amino acid, fatty acid, and drug metabolism. Additionally, the high-risk group had more TMB, upregulated immune checkpoint molecule expression, including PD-1, CTLA4, TIM3, and LAG3, and preferentially formed an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Accordingly, potential therapeutic responses showed that high-risk patients were potentially sensitive to inhibitors targeting the cell cycle and MAPK signaling, with patients possibly benefiting from immunotherapy. Moreover, multiplex immunofluorescence assays indicated that high-risk HCC samples displayed distinct immunosuppressive features, with abundant M2-polarized macrophages and T-regulatory cell infiltration. Conclusion: The m6A signature had a prominent capacity to evaluate OS and characterize the tumor immune microenvironment of HCC, which may serve as a useful approach for risk stratification management and provide a valuable clue to choosing rational therapeutic strategies.

Individual dose recommendations for drug interaction between tacrolimus and voriconazole in adult liver transplant recipients: A semiphysiologically based population pharmacokinetic modeling approach.

The magnitude of drug-drug interaction between tacrolimus and voriconazole is highly variable, and individually tailoring the tacrolimus dose when concomitantly administered with voriconazole remains difficult. This study aimed to develop a semiphysiologically based population pharmacokinetic (semi-PBPK) model and a web-based dashboard to identify the dynamic inhibition of tacrolimus metabolism caused by voriconazole and provide individual tacrolimus regimens for Chinese adult liver transplant recipients. A total of 264 tacrolimus concentrations and 146 voriconazole concentrations were prospectively collected from 32 transplant recipients. A semi-PBPK model with physiological compartments including the gut wall, portal vein, and liver was developed using the nonlinear mixed-effects modeling software NONMEM (version 7.4). A web-based dashboard was established in R software (version 3.6.1) to recommend the individual tacrolimus regimens when concomitantly administered with voriconazole. The reversible inhibition of tacrolimus metabolism caused by voriconazole was investigated in both the liver and the gut wall. Moreover, voriconazole could highly inhibit the CYP3A activity in the gut wall more than in the liver. BMI and postoperative days were identified as significant covariates on intrinsic intestinal and hepatic clearance of tacrolimus, respectively. Age and postoperative days were identified as significant covariates on the volume of distribution of voriconazole. The individual tacrolimus regimens when concomitantly administered with voriconazole could be recommended in the dashboard (https://tac-vor-ddi.shinyapps.io/shinyapp3/). In conclusion, the semi-PBPK model successfully described the dynamic inhibition process between tacrolimus and voriconazole, and the web-based dashboard could provide individual tacrolimus regimens when concomitantly administered with voriconazole.

The AGH score is a predictor of disease-free survival and targeted therapy efficacy after liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) is the "cure" therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, some patients encounter HCC recurrence after LT. Unfortunately, there is no effective methods to identify the LT patients who have high risk of HCC recurrence and would benefit from adjuvant targeted therapy. The present study aimed to establish a scoring system to predict HCC recurrence of HCC patients after LT among the Chinese population, and to evaluate whether these patients are suitable for adjuvant targeted therapy. METHODS: Clinical data of HCC patients who underwent LT from March 2015 to June 2019 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 201 patients were included in the study. The multivariate Cox analysis suggested that preoperative alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > 200 µg/L (HR = 2.666, 95% CI: 1.515-4.690; P = 0.001), glutamyl transferase (GGT) > 96 U/L (HR = 1.807, 95% CI: 1.012-3.224; P = 0.045), and exceeding the Hangzhou criteria (HR = 2.129, 95% CI: 1.158-3.914; P = 0.015) were independent risk factors for poor disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with HCC who underwent LT. We established an AFP-GGT-Hangzhou (AGH) scoring system based on these factors, and divided cases into high-, moderate-, and low-risk groups. The differences in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates among the three groups were significant (P < 0.05). The efficacy of the AGH scoring system to predict DFS was better than that of the Hangzhou criteria, UCSF criteria, Milan criteria, and TNM stage. Only in the high-risk group, we found that lenvatinib significantly improved prognosis compared with that of the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The AGH scoring system provides a convenient and effective way to predict HCC recurrence after LT in HCC patients in China. Patients with a high-risk AGH score may benefit from lenvatinib adjuvant therapy after LT.

Prospective population pharmacokinetic study of tacrolimus in adult recipients early after liver transplantation: A comparison of Michaelis-Menten and theory-based pharmacokinetic models.

Background and Objective: Tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor widely used as a potent immunosuppressant to prevent graft rejection, exhibits nonlinear kinetics in patients with kidney transplantation and nephrotic syndrome. However, whether nonlinear drug metabolism occurs in adult patients undergoing liver transplantation remains unclear, as do the main underlying mechanisms. Therefore, here we aimed to further confirm the characteristics of nonlinearity through a large sample size, and determine the potential influence of nonlinearity and its possible mechanisms. Methods: In total, 906 trough concentrations from 176 adult patients (150 men/26 women; average age: 50.68 ± 9.71 years, average weight: 64.54 ± 11.85 kg after first liver transplantation) were included in this study. Population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using NONMEM®. Two modeling strategies, theory-based linear compartmental and nonlinear Michaelis-Menten (MM) models, were evaluated and compared. Potential covariates were screened using a stepwise approach. Bootstrap, prediction-, and simulation-based diagnostics (prediction-corrected visual predictive checks) were performed to determine model stability and predictive performance. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations based on the superior model were conducted to design dosing regimens. Results: Postoperative days (POD), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), daily tacrolimus dose, triazole antifungal agent (TAF) co-therapy, and recipient CYP3A5*3 genotype constituted the main factors in the theory-based compartmental final model, whereas POD, Total serum bilirubin (TBIL), Haematocrit (HCT), TAF co-therapy, and recipient CYP3A5*3 genotype were important in the nonlinear MM model. The theory-based final model exhibited 234 L h-1 apparent plasma clearance and 11,000 L plasma distribution volume. The maximum dose rate (V max ) of the nonlinear MM model was 6.62 mg day-1; the average concentration at steady state at half-V max (K m ) was 6.46 ng ml-1. The nonlinear MM final model was superior to the theory-based final model and used to propose dosing regimens based on simulations. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that saturated tacrolimus concentration-dependent binding to erythrocytes and the influence of daily tacrolimus dose on metabolism may partly contribute to nonlinearity. Further investigation is needed is need to explore the causes of nonlinear pharmacokinetic of tacrolimus. The nonlinear MM model can provide reliable support for tacrolimus dosing optimization and adjustment in adult patients undergoing liver transplantation.

Itaconic acid facilitates inflammation abatement and alleviates liver ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3/caspase-1 inflammasome axis.

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) severely limits the efficacy and donor source of liver transplantation, and the crucial step in alleviating it is to control inflammation. Itaconic acid is a metabolite produced by intrinsic immune cells (especially macrophages) in the inflammatory state and can promote inflammation subsidence. However, its role in liver ischemia-reperfusion is insufficiently clarified. Methods: A mouse liver ischemia-reperfusion model was constructed, and blood and liver tissue samples were collected by sequential euthanasia of mice at pre-set time points. Liver function and inflammatory factor concentrations were measured, and HE staining was conducted. In the hypoxia-reoxygenation model, proteins were collected at pre-set time points, and the expression of NF-κB pathway-associated protein and its downstream inflammation-associated protein NLRP3 and caspase-1 were detected by Western blot, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. The level of P-P65 in the nucleus was detected by immunofluorescence. Results: In the liver ischemia-reperfusion model, liver function and inflammatory factors were dynamically varied with reperfusion time in mice, and itaconic acid significantly modified liver function and inflammatory status during this process. NF-κB pathway activity was dynamically varied during hypoxia-reoxygenation, and itaconic acid significantly inhibited the activity of the pathway and significantly suppressed the expression of its downstream inflammation-related proteins. Conclusions: Itaconic acid inhibits NF-κB pathway activation and reduces the accumulation of P-P65 in the nucleus. In turn, this reduces NLRP3 and caspase-1 expression of downstream inflammation-related proteins, promotes inflammation regression, and attenuates liver IRI.

Integrated multi-omics analysis identifies ENY2 as a predictor of recurrence and a regulator of telomere maintenance in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and has a high recurrence rate. Accurate prediction of recurrence risk is urgently required for tailoring personalized treatment programs for individual HCC patients in advance. In this study, we analyzed a gene expression dataset from an HCC cohort with 247 samples and identified five genes including ENY2, GPAA1, NDUFA4L2, NEDD9, and NRP1 as the variables for the prediction of HCC recurrence, especially the early recurrence. The Cox model and risks score were validated in two public HCC cohorts (GSE76427 and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)) and one cohort from Huashan Hospital, which included a total of 641 samples. Moreover, the multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the risk score could serve as an independent prognostic factor in the prediction of HCC recurrence. In addition, we found that ENY2, GPAA1, and NDUFA4L2 were significantly upregulated in HCC of the two validation cohorts, and ENY2 had significantly higher expression levels than another four genes in malignant cells, suggesting that ENY2 might play key roles in malignant cells. The cell line analysis revealed that ENY2 could promote cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The functional analysis of the genes correlated with ENY2 revealed that ENY2 might be involved in telomere maintenance, one of the fundamental hallmarks of cancer. In conclusion, our data indicate that ENY2 may regulate the malignant phenotypes of HCC via activating telomere maintenance.

Effects of Tumor-Derived DNA on CXCL12-CXCR4 and CCL21-CCR7 Axes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells and the Regulation of Sinomenine Hydrochloride.

Currently, chemokines and their receptors, CXCL12-CXCR4 and CCL21-CCR7 axes, are deemed vital factors in the modulation of angiogenesis and are crucial for the growth and development of liver cancer. Tumor-derived DNA can be recognized by immune cells to induce an autoimmune response. In this study, we demonstrated the mechanism of tumor-derived DNA on the CXCL12-CXCR4 and CCL21-CCR7 axes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and the regulatory effect of sinomenine hydrochloride. Tumor-derived DNA was separated from HCCLM cell lines. Tumor-derived DNA was transfected into SK-Hep1 cells by Lipofectamine 2000. We found that sinomenine hydrochloride reduced the expression of CXCR4, CXCR12, CCR7, and CCL21 in HCC cells, suppressed the growth and invasion of HCC cells, and increased apoptosis. In contrast to the controls, the protein expressions of CXCR4, CXCL12, CCR7, CCL21, P-ERK1/2, MMP-9, and MMP-2 in SK-Hep1 cells were significantly increased after transfection of tumor-derived DNA, while the increase was reversed by sinobine hydrochloride. Acid sinomenine interferes with tumor-derived DNA and affects ERK/MMP signaling via the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis in HCC cells. CXCR4 siRNA and CCR7 siRNA attenuated tumor-derived DNA activation of ERK1/2/MMP2/9 signaling pathways in HCC cells. CXCR4-oe and CCR7-OE enhance the stimulation of erK1/2/MMP2/9 signaling pathway by tumor-derived DNA in HCC cells. Tumor-derived DNA reduced apoptosis and increased invasion of SK-Hep1 cells by CXCL12-CXCR4 axis and CCL21-CCR7 axis, and sinobine hydrochloride reversed this regulation. These results strongly suggest that tumor-derived DNA can increase the growth and invasion of oncocytes via the upregulation of the expression of CXCL12-CXCR4 and CCL21-CCR7 axis and through ERK1/2/MMP2/9 signaling pathway in HCC cells, and sinobine hydrochloride can inhibit this signaling pathway, thus inhibiting HCC cells. These results provide new potential therapeutic targets for blocking the progression of HCC induced by CXCL12-CXCR4 axis and CCL21-CCR7.

Comparison of Two Donor Liver Procurement Methods for Treatment of Pediatric Acute Liver Failure.

Background: To evaluate the difference and efficacy of two donor liver procurement methods for treatment of pediatric acute liver failure (PALF) by living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Methods: A total of 17 patients (12 men, 5 women) with PALF who underwent LDLT in our hospital between October 2016 and October 2020, and prognostic efficacy of donors and recipients using two donor liver procurement methods were analyzed. Results: The donors and recipients were both divided into laparoscopic (7 cases) and open (10 cases) donor liver procurement groups. In the recipients, two deaths occurred in the laparoscopic group and one in the open group, and there were three postoperative complications in the laparoscopic group and six in the open group. The cumulative 1-year and 3-year survival rates in the laparoscopic group and the open group were 80.0% and 85.7% separately. There was no difference in the postoperative survival and complications rates between the two groups. In the donors, the operation time, postoperative hospital stay, and blood loss of the laparoscopic group was significantly reduced compared with the open group (P ≤ 0.01). No death or serious complication occurred in either donor group. Conclusion: Laparoscopic donor liver procurement is worth recommending than open donor liver procurement for treatment of PALF combined with LDLT in qualified transplant centers.

LncRNA GASAL1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by up-regulating USP10-stabilized PCNA.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a fatal malignancy which has insufficient treatment options. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) GASAL1 was discovered to be conspicuously up-regulated in HCC. However, the study on the role of GASAL1 in HCC reamins limited. Our study aimed at exploring the role and mechanism of GASAL1 in HCC. RT-qPCR or Western blot was conducted to examine the expression of RNAs or proteins. Functional assays were carried out to investigate the impact of GASAL1, USP10, and PCNA on HCC cells. Mechanism assays were performed to fathom out the relationship among GASAL1, miR-193b-5p, USP10, and PCNA. In vivo assays were also employed to determine the role of GASAL1 in HCC tumor growth and metastases. According to the data collected, GASAL1 displayed a high expression in HCC cells and GASAL1 knockdown led to impeded cell proliferation and migration, as well as tumor progression. A series of mechanism analysis demonstrated GASAL1 could sponge miR-193b-5p to raise the expression of USP10. Moreover, USP10 could induce PCNA deubiquitination to promote HCC cell growth. To conclude, GASAL1 plays an oncogenic role in HCC. GASAL1 could up-regulate USP10 via competitively binding to miR-193b-5p. And USP10 could strengthen cell proliferative and migratory abilities through deubiquitinating PCNA.

CYP3A7, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5 genetic polymorphisms in recipients rather than donors influence tacrolimus concentrations in the early stages after liver transplantation.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of CYP3A7, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5 genetic polymorphisms in liver transplant recipients and donors on tacrolimus concentrations in the early stages after liver transplantation. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-eight liver transplant recipients and matched donors were genotyped for CYP3A7 (rs10211 and rs2257401), CYP3A4 (rs4646437 and rs2242480), and CYP3A5*3 (rs776746) polymorphisms. The relationships between dose-adjusted trough concentrations (C0/D) of tacrolimus and corresponding genotypes were investigated. RESULTS: Recipient CYP3A polymorphisms were associated with tacrolimus concentrations. The CYP3A7 rs10211 AA carriers (186.2 vs 90.5, p < 0.001), CYP3A4 rs4646437 CC carriers (184.0 vs 88.8, p < 0.001), CYP3A4*1G rs2242480 CC carriers (189.8 vs 99.7, p < 0.001), and CYP3A5*3 rs776746 GG carriers (197.3 vs 86.0, p < 0.001) had an almost twofold increase in the tacrolimus C0/D compared to that of the non-carriers. We further investigated the effect of the combination of recipient (intestinal) and donor (hepatic) genotypes on tacrolimus concentrations. Regardless of the genotype of the matched donor, CYP3A7 rs10211, CYP3A4*1G (rs2242480), and CYP3A5*3 (rs776746) polymorphisms of recipients could affect tacrolimus concentrations. For the CYP3A4 rs4646437 polymorphisms, when the donor carried CYP3A4 rs4646437 CC, the recipient CYP3A4 rs4646437 polymorphism was associated with the C0/D of tacrolimus, and when the donor carried CYP3A4 rs4646437 CT/TT genotype, the recipient CYP3A4 rs4646437 polymorphism also affected on tacrolimus C0/D, although the effect was not significant. CONCLUSION: The large inter-individual variation in tacrolimus concentrations in the early stages after liver transplantation is influenced by genetic polymorphisms of CYP3A7, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5. Recipient (intestinal) CYP3A7, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5 polymorphisms seem to contribute more to such variation than donors. Therefore, the detection of CYP3A polymorphisms in recipients could help to predict the tacrolimus starting dose in the early stages after liver transplantation.

Cancer Cell-Derived Exosomes Promote HCC Tumorigenesis Through Hedgehog Pathway.

PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for more than 80% of primary liver cancers and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in many countries. Cancer cell-derived exosomes are shown to mediate communications between cancer cells and the microenvironment, promoting tumorigenesis. Hedgehog signaling pathway plays important roles in cancer development of HCC. METHODS: Exosomes were isolated from culture medium of HCC cell lines PLC/PRF/5 and MHCC-97H and were found to promote cancer cell growth measured with cell proliferation and colony formation assay. HCC cells cultured with cancer cell-derived exosome had increased cancer stem cell (CSC) population demonstrated by increased cell sphere formation CSC marker expressions. Hedgehog protein Shh was found to be highly expressed in these two HCC cell lines and preferably carried by exosomes. When Shh was knocked down with shRNA, the resulting exosomes had a reduced effect on promoting cancer cell growth or CSC population increase compared to normal cell-derived exosomes. RESULTS: The ability of PLC/PRF/5 cells to form tumor in a xenograft model was increased by the addition of the exosomes from control cancer cells but not the exosomes from Shh knocked down cancer cells. Finally, the higher plasma Exo-Shh levels were associated with later tumor stages, higher histological grades, multiple tumors, and higher recurrence rates. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that HCC cells secreted Shh via exosome and promote tumorigenesis through the activated Hedgehog pathway.

Development of a predictive nomogram for early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients undergoing liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: An individual prognostic model that includes inflammation caused by the delayed recovery of liver function after surgery for the early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following liver transplantation (LT) has not been well determined. Our aim was to develop a nomogram model for predicting individual survival and early recurrence following LT for patients. METHODS: Retrospective data, including clinical pathology and follow-up data, on HCC patients were collected between October 2016 and October 2019 at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. A nomogram estimating recurrence post-transplantation was constructed using multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 210 patients were included in the present study. The multivariate estimators of recurrence consisted of age, maximum tumor diameter, tumor thrombus, microvascular invasion (MVI), alanine aminotransferase and alpha-fetoprotein on postoperative day 7. Nomogram of recurrence-free survival was developed. The calibration and discrimination of the novel model were assessed with the calibration curves and concordance index (C-index). Its reliability and advantages were evaluated by comparing it with the conventional American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition staging system using integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) and net reclassification improvement (NRI). In comparison to the AJCC 8th edition staging system, the C-index (development set: 0.796 vs. 0.643, validation set: 0.741 vs. 0.563), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the validation set (1-year AUC: 0.732 vs. 0.586, 2-year AUC: 0.705 vs. 0.504), the development set (1-year AUC: 0.799 vs. 0.551, 2-year AUC: 0.801 vs. 0.512), and this model's calibration plots all showed improved performance. In addition, NRI and IDI verified that the nomogram is an accurate prognostic tool. Subsequently, a web calculator was generated to assess the risk of tumor recurrence post-LT. CONCLUSIONS: The nomogram, based on clinical and pathological factors, showed good accuracy in estimating prognostic recurrence and can be used to guide individual patient follow-up and treatment.

Biallelic loss-of-function ZFYVE19 mutations are associated with congenital hepatic fibrosis, sclerosing cholangiopathy and high-GGT cholestasis.

BACKGROUND: For many children with intrahepatic cholestasis and high-serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity, a genetic aetiology of hepatobiliary disease remains undefined. We sought to identify novel genes mutated in children with idiopathic high-GGT intrahepatic cholestasis, with clinical, histopathological and functional correlations. METHODS: We assembled a cohort of 25 children with undiagnosed high-GGT cholestasis and without clinical features of biliary-tract infection or radiological features of choledochal malformation, sclerosing cholangitis or cholelithiasis. Mutations were identified through whole-exome sequencing and targeted Sanger sequencing. We reviewed histopathological findings and assessed phenotypical effects of ZFYVE19 deficiency in cultured cells by immunofluorescence microscopy. RESULTS: Nine Han Chinese children harboured biallelic, predictedly complete loss-of-function pathogenic mutations in ZFYVE19 (c.314C>G, p.S105X; c.379C>T, p.Q127X; c.514C>T, p.R172X; c.547C>T, p.R183X; c.226A>G, p.M76V). All had portal hypertension and, at liver biopsy, histopathological features of the ductal plate malformation (DPM)/congenital hepatic fibrosis (CHF). Four children required liver transplantation for recurrent gastrointestinal haemorrhage. DPM/CHF was confirmed at hepatectomy, with sclerosing small-duct cholangitis. Immunostaining for two primary-cilium axonemal proteins found expression that was deficient intraluminally and ectopic within cholangiocyte cytoplasm. ZFYVE19 depletion in cultured cells yielded abnormalities of centriole and axoneme. CONCLUSION: Biallelic ZFYVE19 mutations can lead to high-GGT cholestasis and DPM/CHF in vivo. In vitro, they can lead to centriolar and axonemal abnormalities. These observations indicate that mutation in ZFYVE19 results, through as yet undefined mechanisms, in a ciliopathy.

Left Hepatic Vein Preferential Approach Based on Anatomy Is Safe and Feasible for Laparoscopic Living Donor Left Lateral Sectionectomy.

We assess the safety and feasibility of the left hepatic vein preferential approach (LHVPA) based on left hepatic vein (LHV) anatomy for living donor laparoscopic left lateral sectionectomy (LLLS). Data from 50 donors who underwent LLLS in Huashan Hospital from October 2016 to November 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. On the basis of the classification of the LHV anatomy, the vein was defined as the direct import type, upper branch type, or indirect import type. A subgroup analysis was performed to compare the outcomes between the LHVPA and non-LHVPA groups. All 50 patients underwent pure LLLS. The mean operative duration was 157.5 ± 29.7 minutes. The intraoperative blood loss was 160.4 ± 97.5 mL. No complications more severe than grade 3 occurred. LHVPA was applied in 13 patients, whereas non-LHVPA was applied in 10 patients with the direct import type and upper branch type anatomy. The operative duration was shorter in the LHVPA group than the non-LHVPA group (142.7 ± 22.0 versus 173.0 ± 22.8 minutes; P = 0.01). Intraoperative blood loss was reduced in the LHVPA group compared with the non-LHVPA group (116.2 ± 45.6 versus 170.0 ± 63.3 mL; P = 0.02). The length of the LHV reserved extrahepatically in the LHVPA group was longer than in the non-LHVPA group (4.3 ± 0.2 versus 3.3 ± 0.3 mm; P = 0.01). Fewer reconstructions of the LHV in the direct import type anatomy were required for the LHVPA group than for the non-LHVPA group (0/8 versus 4/6). LHVPA based on the LHV anatomy is recommended in LLLS because it can further increase the safety and the efficiency of surgery for suitable donors.