Hepatic artery restriction operation combined with ALPPS (HARO-ALPPS), a novel ALPPS procedure for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with severe fibrosis: Retrospective clinical cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Associating liver partition with portal vein ligation for staged liver resection (ALPPS) has been used in the treatment of patients with advanced or massive liver cancer without sufficient future liver remnant, but concerns remain regarding tumor outcomes and surgical safety. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new procedure, Hepatic artery restriction operation combined with ALPPS (HARO-ALPPS), in the treatment of HCC patients especially with severe fibrosis. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed 8 patients who underwent HARO-ALPPS for HCC and compared their outcomes with 64 patients who underwent conventional ALPPS. The primary outcomes assessed were liver regeneration ability (measured by relative and absolute kinetic growth rates), postoperative complications, and mortality. The secondary outcomes included overall survival and disease-free survival. RESULTS: HARO-ALPPS significantly restricted the blood supply of the hepatic artery. One week after surgery, the blood flow of the right hepatic artery dropped to 62.1%. At the same time, HARO-ALPPS shows superior liver regeneration ability, which is particularly prominent in the background of liver fibrosis. No serious complications occurred after HARO-ALPPS. The overall survival rate of HARO-ALPPS was 75%, which was higher than that of ALPPS (64%, P=0.816). CONCLUSION: Compared to conventional ALPPS, HARO-ALPPS exhibits a better liver regeneration ability, and favorable long-term outcomes. Further prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and evaluate the long-term oncologic outcomes of this novel procedure.

Left Hepatectomy Combined with Right Hepatic Artery Resection and Reconstruction for Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatectomy combined with hepatic artery reconstruction in the operation for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumor) is a challenging procedure. We present a video of left hepatectomy combined with right hepatic artery reconstruction for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. PATIENT AND METHODS: The patient was a 60-year-old male who presented with obstructive jaundice. The imaging examination showed that the confluence of left and right hepatic ducts and the wall of common hepatic duct were thickened, the local lumen was narrowed, the intrahepatic bile duct was dilated, and the right hepatic artery was invaded by tumors nearly 2.3 centimeters. Left hepatectomy with total caudate lobectomy, resection with reconstruction of right hepatic artery, hilar lymphadenectomy, and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy were performed. RESULTS: The operation time was 345 min, and the amount of bleeding was about 400 ml. There was no blood transfusion. The pathology showed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, with negative margins of common bile duct and right hepatic duct, and negative results of all lymph nodes. The patient's recovery was uneventful and he was discharged on postoperative day 14. The patient was disease free at 12-month follow-up evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic artery resection and reconstruction procedure is safe and feasible for hilar cholangiocarcinoma in a highly tertiary hepatobiliary center.

Preparation of quaternary ammonium magnetic chitosan microspheres and their application for Congo red adsorption.

In this study, novel green in situ quaternary-ammonium-functionalized magnetic chitosan microspheres (IQMCM) were synthesised. The resulting adsorbent was characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and zeta potential analysis. The characterization results indicated that the IQMCMs possessed spherical morphology and superior specific thermal stability, magnetic properties, and surface charges. Batch adsorption experiments revealed that the adsorption capacities of the IQMCM microspheres to Congo red (CR) was 630.21 mg/g at a dosage of 0.15 g/L, temperature of 333 K, pH of 5.0, and initial dye concentration of 100 mg/L, and the corresponding removal rate reached 94.53 %. According to the kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and thermodynamics experiment results, the adsorption of CR dye coincided with a spontaneous endothermic monolayer chemisorption process. After saturated adsorption, this magnetic adsorbent could be rapidly separated from water and reused with little adsorption capacity loss. Overall, these results show that IQMCMs are potentially applicable in wastewater treatment.

Hepatectomy and pneumectomy combined with targeted therapy for primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma: Case report and review of the literature.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (PHNEC) manifests as a rare type of liver tumor. PHNEC is not specifically clinical or radiographical and is often misdiagnosed and mistreated. Here, we present a case report of PHNEC in a 50-year-old woman who was admitted to our department with concealed pain in the right upper abdomen. The initial diagnosis was a probable hepatic space-occupying lesion with tumor bleeding. The patient was subjected to a partial right hemihepatectomy, cholecystectomy, partial resection of the lower lobe of the right lung, partial resection of the diaphragm, and resection of the right perirenal fat sac to alleviate her symptoms. After surgery, gene sequencing was performed to determine the possible cause of the condition. However, five months after discharge, the patient was hospitalized again because of retroperitoneal and peritoneal multiple metastases. Nine months after surgery, the patient died. This case is likely to aid in furthering our understanding of PHNEC to improve the future diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Effect of circular RNA, mmu_circ_0000296, on neuronal apoptosis in chronic cerebral ischaemia via the miR-194-5p/Runx3/Sirt1 axis.

Chronic cerebral ischaemia (CCI) is a common pathological disorder, which is associated with various diseases, such as cerebral arteriosclerosis and vascular dementia, resulting in neurological dysfunction. As a type of non-coding RNA, circular RNA is involved in regulating the occurrence and development of diseases, such as ischaemic brain injury. Here, we found that HT22 cells and hippocampus treated with CCI had low expression of circ_0000296, Runx3, Sirt1, but high expression of miR-194-5p. Overexpression of circ_0000296, Runx3, Sirt1, and silenced miR-194-5p significantly inhibited neuronal apoptosis induced by CCI. This study demonstrated that circ_0000296 specifically bound to miR-194-5p; miR-194-5p bound to the 3'UTR region of Runx3 mRNA; Runx3 directly bound to the promoter region of Sirt1, enhancing its transcriptional activity. Overexpression of circ_0000296 by miR-194-5p reduced the negative regulatory effect of miR-194-5p on Runx3, promoted the transcriptional effect of Runx3 on Sirt1, and inhibited neuronal apoptosis induced by CCI. mmu_circ_0000296 plays an important role in regulating neuronal apoptosis induced by CCI through miR-194-5p/Runx3/Sirt1 pathway.

Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Kidney Neutrophil Heterogeneity in Both Healthy People and ccRCC Patients.

Neutrophil is known to critically impact the development of renal diseases (e.g., the clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)), whereas the heterogeneity of neutrophils in ccRCC remains unclear. In the present study, kidney biopsies from healthy donors and ccRCC tissues were collected for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). In addition, the subpopulations of neutrophils in a healthy kidney and in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of ccRCC were expressed and then analyzed. The genes reported previously were mapped to all subpopulations identified here. On that basis, biological theme comparison and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were employed to reveal and compare relevant biological functions. In a healthy kidney, neutrophils exhibit two subpopulations: one is more associated with renal autoimmunity, probably acting as therapeutic target; the other is suggested to resist infectious microorganisms. It is noteworthy that six subpopulations were identified in ccRCC biopsy, and two were more relevant to autoimmunity, while the other four are more relevant to the tumor pathology. Besides, ccRCC neutrophil could resist anticancer immune therapies of ipilimumab and pembrolizumab for their low/no expressions of CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1. Thus, this study can help understand the heterogeneity and pathological significance of neutrophils in renal diseases.

Association between high sensitivity C-Reactive protein and prevalence of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis.

INTRODUCTION: Inflammation plays a key role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. Little is known about the association between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) especially long-term hs-CRP and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) in healthy Chinese adults. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between hs-CRP levels and the prevalence of ACAS in a Chinese community-based cohort. METHODS: A sample of 5349 participants aged ≥ 40 years (40.36% women) were enrolled in this study, all without preexisting stroke. Ultrasonography of the bilateral carotid arteries was performed for the evaluation of carotid stenosis. Participants were stratified into three groups according to hs-CRP levels. We used both baseline (hs-CRP levels analyzed during 2010) and average hs-CRP values for the last four years (the average of hs-CRP levels analyzed at the year of 2006, 2008 and 2010) in the analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between hs-CRP levels and ACAS. RESULTS: A total of 356 (6.66%) subjects showed evidence of ACAS. Multivariate analysis showed that both baseline and average hs-CRP values for the last four years were independent indicators for the presence of ACAS (P for trend = 0.007, 0.001, respectively). Stratified by age and sex, higher baseline hs-CRP levels were associated with ACAS in old adults (≥ 60 y) (multivariate-adjusted, odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.05) and male (multivariate-adjusted, OR = 1.03, 95%CI: 1.01-1.05), but not in middle-aged adults (40-59 y) and female. Similarly, higher average hs-CRP values for the last four years were associated with ACAS in old adults and male, but not in middle-aged adults and female. CONCLUSION: Both baseline and chronic elevation of serum hs-CRP were associated with ACAS, especially in older or male adults. hs-CRP might be used as a useful marker and a potential therapeutic target for carotid atherosclerosis.

[Impact of ideal health behaviors and factors on the newly developed carotid plaques].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of ideal health behaviors on the newly developed carotid plaques. METHODS: A total of 5 852 employees (including retired employees from Tangshan Kailuan company) aged over 40 years were included in this study through stratified random sampling. Subjects with previous stroke, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction were excluded. Results from the unified questionnaire, blood biochemistry measurements and ultrasonography carotid artery measurements were analyzed. Present study analyzed the data from 2 372 participants without carotid plaques in 2010-2011 examinations. The newly developed carotid plaques in 2012-2013 health examinations were observed and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore the impact of ideal health behaviors and factors on the newly developed carotid plaques. RESULTS: (1) There were 359 subjects with newly developed carotid artery plaques among the 2 372 subjects (15.1%), prevalence rate was 23.1% (43/186), 17.5% (186/1 065), 12.4% (122/986), 5.9% (8/135) in the groups with 0-1, 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7 components of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and factors, respectively (P < 0.001). (2) Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, gender, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, heart rate, and high sensitive c-reactive protein, compared to with 0-1 components of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and factors, participants with 4-5 and 6-7 components of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and factors were associated with reduced risk of the newly developed carotid plaques, the OR (95% CI) values were 0.52(0.34-0.80) and 0.28(0.12-0.64), respectively. CONCLUSION: Higher number of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and factors is associated with lower incidence of newly developed carotid plaques.

Environmental enrichment blocks reinstatement of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference in mice.

This study aimed to explore the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) on the reinstatement of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in C57Bl/6J mice. To investigate the effect of training dose on the extinction and relapse of ethanol-induced CPP, doses of ethanol were applied and we found 0.8 g/kg and 1.6 g/kg training doses lead to significant CPP. In the reinstatement procedure, previously extinguished 1.6 g/kg ethanol CPP could be markedly reinstated by a priming injection of 0.8 g/kg. In contrast, priming with 0.4 g/kg of ethanol failed to reinstate the CPP induced by 0.8 g/kg. To investigate whether concomitant EE exposure could prevent the reinstatement of ethanol-induced CPP, one half of the mice were housed in standard environment (SE) and the other half in EE during the extinction and reinstatement session in the second experiment. Our study showed that reinstatement of ethanol-induced CPP was blocked by EE and the extinction rate was the same between SE and EE mice. These findings suggest that EE can block reinstatement of ethanol-induced CPP in mice, and aiding in the identification of new therapeutic strategies for alcohol addiction.