Proposal of a Network System to Solve the Problem of Small Volume in Liver Transplantation; Catholic Medical Center Network.

INTRODUCTION: Liver transplantation (LT) is a complex and demanding procedure associated with significant perioperative challenges and risks. Concerns have arisen regarding LT outcomes in low-volume centers. We implemented an integrated training and surgical team network to address these concerns within the Catholic Medical Center (CMC) network. This study presents a comprehensive review of our 9-year LT experience within the CMC medical network. METHOD: A retrospective study of LT procedures conducted between January 2013 and August 2021 in 6 CMC-affiliated hospitals was performed. One center was categorized as a high-volume center, conducting over 60 cases annually, and the remaining 5 were considered small-volume centers. The primary endpoints assessed were 1-year and 5-year survival rates. RESULTS: A total of 793 LTs were performed during the study period. The high-volume center performed 411 living donor LT (LDLT) cases and 127 deceased donor LT (DDLT) cases. Also, 146 LDLT cases and 109 DDLT cases were performed in 5 small-volume centers. One-year and 5-year patient survival for LDLT recipients was 88.3% and 78.8% in the high-volume center and 85.6% and 80.6% in the low-volume center. Five-year survival was not significantly different in small-volume centers (P = .903). For DDLT recipients, 1-year and 5-year patient survival was 80.3% and 70.6% in the high-volume center and 76.1% and 67.6% in the low-volume center. In DDLT cases, 5-year survival was not significantly different in small-volume centers (P = .445). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, comparable outcomes for liver transplantation can be obtained in a small-volume center with a high level of integrated training systems and networks.

A Single Center Experience of the Prognosis After Liver Transplantation From Discarded Graft Due to Poor Graft Conditions in Prioritized Centers.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation (LT) has the limitation of graft shortage. Therefore, to increase the donor pool, even marginal grafts are being transplanted depending on the recipient's condition. This study was conducted to analyze the post-LT prognosis using discarded liver grafts. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From January 2010 to September 2020, deceased-donor LT was performed in 160 patients in our center. Among them, 121 patients (allocated group) were preferentially allocated to our center, and the remaining 39 patients (24.4%, discarded group) received liver grafts that were discarded by prioritized centers. RESULTS: The preoperative model for end-stage liver disease score were 27.0 ± 10.41 and 27.0 ±11.79 for each group (P = .99). There were no differences between the 2 groups in operation time (P = .06) and intraoperative packed red cell transfusion (P = .90). There were no differences between the 2 groups in early allograft dysfunction (P = .48) and hospital stay (P = .26) after deceased-donor LT. In-hospital mortality occurred in 10 patients (8.3%) in the allocated group and 4 patients (10.3%) in the discarded group. Only the length of intensive care unit stay was significantly longer in the discarded group (P = 0.04). The 5-year survival rate was 73.8% in the allocated group and 72.2% in the discarded group. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of the discarded group is never worse than that of the allocated group. deceased-donor LT from the discarded graft can be acceptable. As a result, the number of discarded grafts can be reduced.

Flavanones inhibit the clonogenicity of HCT116 cololectal cancer cells.

Naringenin has been shown to display various biological effects such as antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral activities. Taxifolin inhibits the production of lipopolysaccharide-induced prostaglandin E, and fustin suppresses the activity of acetylcholinesterase. They all belong to flavanone which is a class of flavonoids with a C6-C3-C6 skeleton. Since the anticancer activities of flavanone derivatives have rarely been reported, we examined the effects of 26 flavanone derivatives on HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. Our results suggest that flavanone derivatives control the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins, which blocks G1 cell cycle progression and inhibits the clonogenicity of HCT116 cells. In addition, in order to design flavanone derivatives that show better anticancer activity, structure-activity relationships were examined.

In silico study of the ion channel formed by tolaasin I produced by Pseudomonas tolaasii.

A toxin produced by Pseudomonas tolaasii, tolaasin, causes brown blotch disease in mushrooms. Tolaasin forms pores on the cellular membrane and destroys cell structure. Inhibiting the ability of tolaasin to form ion channels may be an effective method to protect against attack by tolaasin. However, it is first necessary to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of the ion channels formed by tolaasin. In this study, the structure of the tolaasin ion channel was determined in silico based on data obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance experiments.

Relationship between the structures of flavonoids and their NF-κB-dependent transcriptional activities.

It has been previously shown that some flavonoids inhibit NF-κB; however, the structure-activity relationships between chalcone, flavanone, flavone, and isoflavone derivatives and their TNFα induced NF-κB inhibitory effects on HCT116 human colon cancer cells have not yet been reported. Therefore, in this study, the effects of flavonoid structure on inhibition of NF-κB were investigated. Based on the combined results of this study, the structure of the flavonoids was shown to affect NF-κB activation.

Relationships between structures of hydroxyflavones and their antioxidative effects.

Even hydroxyflavones show diverse biological functions, they have two common features such as showing antioxidative effects and containing hydroxyl groups. The authors tested the antioxidative effects of thirty hydroxyflavones using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. While the scavenging activity of galangin, 3,5,7-trihydroxyflavone was 52.5%, fisetin, 3,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxyflavone showed 85.2%. To investigate the relationships between the structures of hydroxyflavones and their antioxidative effects, the three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships were examined.

Identification of compounds exhibiting inhibitory activity toward the Pseudomonas tolaasii toxin tolaasin I using in silico docking calculations, NMR binding assays, and in vitro hemolytic activity assays.

Using in silico docking calculations, NMR analysis of target-ligand binding, and hemolytic activity assays, we searched a 30,000-compound library for an effective inhibitor of tolaasin I, a Pseudomonas tolaasii toxin that causes virulent infection in mushrooms. Of more than 30,000 compounds screened in silico, two compounds were selected. One of these compounds, sorbitololeic acid, bound to tolaasin I and inhibited its hemolytic activity in vitro. Therefore, sorbitololeic acid can be a potential inhibitor of tolaasin I.

Relationships between the structures of flavanone derivatives and their effects in enhancing early growth response-1 gene expression.

To identify the structural requirements that are pivotal in enhancing Early growth response-1 (Egr-1) expression, the quantitative relationships between the structural properties of flavanone derivatives and their increments of Egr-1 expression were elucidated using comparative molecular field analysis and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis.

Complete assignments of NMR data of salens and their cobalt (III) complexes.

Salens, derived from 1,2-ethylenediamine and salicylaldehydes, have been widely used as ligands for metal complexes which have been showing enormous potential in chemical properties of asymmetric catalysts as well as biological properties such as anticancer agents. Almost all of the salen-metal complexes with their corresponding metal (II)-complexes show the evidences of chelation of two oxygens in salens. However, several metal (II) complexes, especially cobalt (II) complexes, could not show NMR spectra due to their paramagnetism. Recently, it has been reported that one of the cobalt (III) complexes was used for NMR spectroscopy to evaluate its stereoselectivity as a catalyst. Even though many salen ligands are known, their NMR data are not assigned completely. It was possible that modification in northern part of salen with 2-hydroxyphenyl group afforded another oxygen chelation site in salen ligand. Here we report that synthesis and full NMR assignment of new salen ligands, which form meso 1,2-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethylenediamine) and their cobalt (III) complexes. The assignments of (1)H and (13)C NMR data obtained in this experiment can help us to predict the NMR data of other salen ligands.

Solution structure of peptide AG4 used to form silver nanoparticles.

The preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is of great interest due to their various biological activities, such as observed in their antimicrobial and wound healing actions. Moreover, the formation of AgNPs using silver-binding peptide has certain advantages because they can be made in aqueous solution at ambient temperature. The solution structure of the silver-binding peptide AG4 was determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the site of the AG4 interaction with AgNPs was elucidated.