Tracking of Stem Cells in Chronic Liver Diseases: Current Trends and Developments.

Stem cell therapy holds great promise for future clinical practice for treatment of advanced liver diseases. However, the fate of stem cells after transplantation, including the distribution, viability, and the cell clearance, has not been fully elucidated. Herein, recent advances regarding the imaging tools for stem cells tracking mainly in chronic liver diseases with the advantages and disadvantages of each approach have been described. Magnetic resonance imaging is a promising clinical imaging modality due to non-radioactivity, excellent penetrability, and high spatial resolution. Fluorescence imaging and radionuclide imaging demonstrate relatively increased sensitivity, with the latter excelling in real-time monitoring. Reporter genes specialize in long-term tracing. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of low sensitivity, radiation, exogenous gene risk are inevitably present in each of these means, respectively. In this review, we aim to comprehensively evaluate the current state of methods for tracking of stem cell, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, and providing insights into their future potential. Multimodality imaging strategies may overcome the inherent limitations of single-modality imaging by combining the strengths of different imaging techniques to provide more comprehensive information in the clinical setting.

Concomitant Diseases and Co-contribution on Progression of Liver Stiffness in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

BACKGROUND: The association between hepatitis B and concomitant diseases, such as fatty liver, T2DM, MetS, and Hp infection, remains unclear. AIM: The present study was to illustrate the association and explore the co-contribution on abnormal transaminase and progression of liver stiffness. METHODS: A total of 95,998 participants underwent HBsAg screening in West China Hospital from 2014 to 2017. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: The prevalence of HBsAg-positive rate was 8.30% of our included study population. HBsAg positive was associated with negative risk of fatty liver (odds ratio [OR] 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65-0.78, p < 0.001) and MetS (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.67-0.84, p < 0.001), and with positive risk of Hp infection (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.17, p = 0.012) and T2DM (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.40, p = 0.043). Besides, HBsAg-positive patients with T2DM had higher risk of elevated ALT (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.69-2.83, p < 0.001 vs OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.51-1.68, p < 0.001), AST (OR 2.69, 95% CI 1.98-3.65, p < 0.001 vs OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.76-2.02, p < 0.001) than HBV alone. In addition to HBV, T2DM also can increase the risk of liver fibrosis (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.35-7.71, p = 0.008) and cirrhosis (OR 4.31, 95% CI 1.41-13.20, p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Hepatitis B patients have a lower risk of fatty liver and MetS, and a higher risk of T2DM and Hp infection. Besides, T2DM might be possibly associated with abnormal liver transaminase and fibrosis progression in HBsAg-positive patients.

Gallic acid functionalized polylysine for endowing cotton fiber with antibacterial, antioxidant, and drug delivery properties.

In recent years, the serious influence of infectious diseases on public health and economy development has raised global awareness of the importance of medical textiles for preventing and curing injuries and diseases. The application of biomass molecules is a feasible and sustainable approach to design multipurpose medical materials. In this work, a novel cotton fiber with antibacterial, antioxidant, and drug delivery properties was prepared using gallic acid functionalized polylysine (GA-PL). GA-PL was synthesized by immobilizing GA onto PL using the carbodiimide coupling method. The content of GA immobilized onto PL was 117.9 mg/g. The as-prepared GA-PL was grafted onto oxidized cotton by means of the Schiff base reaction between the amino groups of GA-PL and the aldehyde groups of oxidized cotton. The content of GA-PL grafted onto cotton fiber was 205.1 mg/g. GA-PL grafted cotton fiber exhibited not only durable antibacterial and antioxidant activities but also good drug loading and releasing properties for acetylsalicylic acid. This work presents a novel, cleaner, and sustainable approach to prepare medical cotton fibers with bioactive and drug delivery properties.

[Analyzing the occupational hazard of 258 construction projects of Shunde in 2010 and 2011].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the changing trend of occupational hazard of industries in Shunde area and to provide the scientific evidence for the prevention of occupational diseases. METHODS: The pre-evaluation of occupational hazard was carried out for the construction projects. The data about employee number scale, industry species, occupational hazard factors, hazard levels and prevention measures for construction projects were collected and analyzed. The data of Shunde Occupational Health Survey in 2011 served as the control data. RESULTS: There were 258 construction projects in 2010 and 2011, in which the proportions of medium and large scales increased to 8.1% and 2.4% respectively, the proportions of the furniture and chemical industries decreased from 25.6% or/and 5.1% to 2.7% or/and 1.8%, the proportions of the high-tech industries increased from 1.8% to 9.2%. The proportions of the projects with serious, medium and slight occupational hazard levels were 4.3%, 67.8% and 27.9%, respectively. The proportions of the projects with harmful chemicals, dusts and physical factors were 34.2%, 46.8%, 42.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The feature of occupational hazard in Shunde industries has changed at upgrading stage. We should pay attention to the prevention of occupational diseases in high-tech industries.