Integrated care models for co-occurring alcohol use disorders and alcohol-associated liver disease in rural communities: Telehealth considerations and opportunities.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) have growing impacts on public health, yet many do not receive evidence-based care. People with co-occurring AUD and ALD, especially those in rural communities with less access to specialty care, are most in need of novel integrated care models. The use of telehealth to facilitate co-location within an integrated care model may help to improve access to AUD and ALD care while reducing barriers and improving recovery outcomes for both the substance use disorder and liver disease.

BCG Vaccine-Induced Trained Immunity and COVID-19: Protective or Bystander?

In late 2019, a new virulent coronavirus (CoV) emerged in Wuhan, China and was named as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus spread rapidly, causing the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a live attenuated tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, associated with induction of non-specific cross-protection against unrelated infections. This protection is a memory-like response in innate immune cells (trained immunity), which is caused by epigenetic reprogramming via histone modification in the regulatory elements of specific genes in monocytes. COVID-19 related epidemiological studies showed an inverse relationship between national BCG vaccination policies and COVID-19 incidence and death, suggesting that BCG may induce trained immunity that could confer some protection against SARS-CoV-2. As this pandemic has put most of Earth's population under quarantine, repurposing of the old, well-characterized BCG may ensure some protection against COVID-19. This review focuses on BCG-related cross-protection and acquisition of trained immunity, as well as the correlation between BCG vaccination and COVID-19 incidence and mortality.

Trends and outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in hospitalized patients with malignant and nonmalignant ascites: a nationwide population study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with ascites resulting from chronic debilitating diseases often require non-oral enteral nutrition and undergo placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. The aim of our study was to assess the nationwide trends and outcomes of PEG tube placement among patients with ascites. METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), we conducted a retrospective analysis of adult patients (≥18 years) who underwent PEG tube placement (n=789,167) from 2010-2014. We divided these patients into 2 groups: with or without ascites. We compared demographics, complications, and in-hospital outcomes between the groups. STATA-13 was used for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was assigned at P<0.05. RESULTS: Patients with ascites who underwent PEG tube placement were found to have a significantly higher rate of complications, including peritonitis (7.52 vs. 0.72%; P<0.001), aspiration pneumonia (20.41 vs. 2.69%; P<0.001), hemoperitoneum (0.72 vs. 0.19%; P<0.001), procedure-related hemorrhage (1.69 vs. 0.9%; P<0.001) and esophageal perforation (0.51 vs. 0.47%; P<0.001). In addition, these patients also had higher in-hospital mortality (16.33% vs. 7.02%; P<0.001) despite having a relatively lower prevalence of comorbidities. Length of stay was longer in the ascites group (28.08 vs. 19.45 days; 0.001). Over the study period, however, we observed an increasing trend for PEG tube placement in hospitalized patients with ascites. CONCLUSION: PEG tube placement in hospitalized patients with ascites is associated with significantly higher mortality, a longer stay, and more procedure-related complications.

Regulatory B Cells and Their Cytokine Profile in HCV-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Association with Regulatory T Cells and Disease Progression.

Although regulatory B cells (Bregs) have been proven to play a suppressive role in autoimmune diseases, infections and different tumors, little is known regarding hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially in hepatitis C-related settings. Herein, we analyzed the frequency of circulating Bregs, serum levels of IL-10, IL-35 and B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and investigated their association with regulatory T cells (Tregs) and disease progression in HCV-related HCC. For comparative purposes, four groups were enrolled; chronic HCV (CHC group, n = 35), HCV-related liver cirrhosis (HCV-LC group, n = 35), HCV-related HCC (HCV-HCC group, n = 60) and an apparently healthy control (Control-group, n = 20). HCC diagnosis and staging were in concordance with the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. Analysis of the percentage of Breg cells and peripheral lymphocyte subsets (Treg) was performed by flow cytometry. Serum cytokine levels of IL-10, IL-35 and B-cell activating factor (BAFF) were measured by ELISA. The frequency of Bregs was significantly higher in the HCV-HCC group compared to the other groups and controls. A significant increase was noted in late-HCC versus those in the early stages. The frequency of Bregs was positively correlated with Tregs, serum IL-10, IL-35 and BAFF. In conclusion, Peripheral Bregs were positively correlated with the frequency of Tregs, IL-10, IL-35 and BAFF, and may be associated with HCV-related HCC progression.

Impact of interleukin IL-6 rs-1474347 and IL-10 rs-1800896 genetic polymorphisms on the susceptibility of HCV-infected Egyptian patients to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered leading cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to examine the association of IL-6 and IL-10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms with the progression of chronic HCV (CHC) infection to cirrhosis and HCC. For comparative purposes, four groups were enrolled; chronic HCV group (CHC, n = 22), HCV-related liver cirrhosis group (HCV-LC, n = 22), HCV-related HCC group (HCV-HCC, n = 54), and an apparently healthy control group (controls, n = 48). HCC diagnosis and staging were in concordance to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. IL-6 rs-1474347 and IL-10 rs-1800896 genotyping was performed by allelic (VIC- and FAM-labeled) discrimination method using assay-on-demand TaqMan real-time PCR assays. For IL-6 rs1474347, the AA genotype was more frequent in CHC, HCV-LC, and HCV-HCC compared to controls. Also, the IL-6 rs1474347 AC genotype was favorable for the progression of HCV chronic infection to cirrhosis and HCC. On the other hand, the IL-10 rs1800896 TT genotype was found to be prominent in the HCC group. Additionally, the IL-10 rs180096 TT genotype was favorable for the progression of chronic HCV infection to cirrhosis and HCC. Furthermore, higher levels of AFP were observed in HCC patients with IL-6 rs1474347 AA genotype and HCC patients with IL-10 rs1800896 CC and TT genotypes. Screening for IL-6 rs 1474347 AC genotype and IL-10 rs180096 TT genotype as well as the determination of AFP level showed to be good markers for examining the susceptibility of HCV Egyptian patients to develop cirrhosis and HCC.

Distal Ileal Ulcers as Gastrointestinal Manifestation of Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia.

Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a neoplastic disorder of the B-cell lymphoid system. A 69-year-old man with WM presented with diarrhea for 6 months. Magnetic resonance enterography showed thickening of the terminal ileum (TI). Colonosocopy with TI intubation showed a single TI ulcer, and small bowel enteroscopy revealed multiple ulcers in the TI. Biopsies from both were negative on hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunoglobulin M immunofluorescence staining of the ulcers was positive for IgM deposits consistent with WM. After 6 cycles of chemotherapy with bendamustine and rituximab, symptoms resolved.