Hepatitis E

The global prevalence of obesity has risen sharply during the past half-century, reaching pandemic proportions and creating a public health crisis. Obesity is a recognized risk factor for the development of diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, hepatic steatosis, and many other cardiometabolic disorders with significant resultant morbidity and mortality. Though treatment of obesity can prevent or slow the progression of these aforementioned illnesses, efforts to help patients achieve reliable and sustainable weight loss have had limited success...

Little is known about lipid changes that occur in the setting of metabolic-dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) regression. We previously reported improvements in hepatic steatosis, de novo lipogenesis (DNL), and metabolomic profiles associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and selected lipid metabolism in 40 adolescent boys (11-16 y) with hepatic steatosis ≥5% (98% meeting the definition of MASLD). Participants were randomized to a low-free-sugar diet (LFSD) (n = 20) or usual diet (n = 20) for 8 weeks...

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is an important cause of liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and death. Furthermore, it is estimated that about 40-70% of patients develop non-hepatic alterations in the course of chronic infection. Such manifestations can be immune-related conditions, lymphoproliferative disorders and metabolic alterations with serious adverse events in the short and long term. The introduction of new Direct-Acting Antivirals has shown promising results, with current evidence indicating an improvement and remission of these conditions after a sustained virological response...

In this study, changes in hepatitis E virus (HEV) contamination in the production of liver sausage from naturally contaminated pork liver were investigated. Furthermore, the potential effectiveness of individual production parameters in reducing viral loads was measured. When processing moderately contaminated liver (initial Cq -value 29), HEV RNA persisted in the finished sausages, even after heating for 90 min at 75 °C. A matrix-specific standard curve was created using a spiking experiment to accurately quantify HEV RNA in a particularly challenging matrix like liver sausage...

A hepatocyte cell line was used to determine the hepatotoxicity of sedatives and opioids, as the hepatotoxicity of these drugs has not yet been well characterized. This might pose a threat, especially to critically ill patients, as they often receive high cumulative doses for daily analgosedation and often already have impaired liver function due to an underlying disease or complications during treatment. A well-established biosensor based on HepG2/C3A cells was used for the determination of the hepatotoxicity of commonly used sedatives and opioids in the intensive care setting (midazolam, propofol, s-ketamin, thiopental, fentanyl, remifentanil, and sufentanil)...

To determine the kinetics of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in asymptomatic persons and to evaluate viral load doubling time and half-life, we retrospectively tested samples retained from 32 HEV RNA-positive asymptomatic blood donors in Germany. Close-meshed monitoring of viral load and seroconversion in intervals of ≈4 days provided more information about the kinetics of asymptomatic HEV infections. We determined that a typical median infection began with PCR-detectable viremia at 36 days and a maximum viral load of 2...

OBJECTIVE: To identify important MRI features to differentiate hepatic mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN) from septated hepatic cysts (HC) using random forest and compared with logistic regression algorithm. METHODS: Pathologically diagnosed hepatic cysts and hepatic MCNs with pre-operative contrast-enhanced MRI in our hospital from 2010 to 2023 were collected and only septated lesions on enhanced MRI were enrolled. A total of 21 septated HC and 18 MCNs were included in this study...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis A virus (HAV)-related hepatitis is witnessing an epidemiological transition with increasing trends in adults. While uncomplicated hepatitis remains common, evidence suggests it to be a growing cause for acute liver failure (ALF). In between the two extremes exists severe acute liver injury (s-ALI) which has a propensity to transition to ALF. We aimed at describing the clinical profile of patients with HAV-related s-ALI and identifying potential predictors of progression to ALF...

BACKGROUND: Patients should be closely monitored during procedures under sedation outside the operating room, but it is unclear which type of monitoring is best. We investigated the efficacy and safety of BIS monitoring vs conventional monitoring for sedation during colonoscopy. METHODS: We performed a double-blind clinical trial in 180 patients undergoing elective colonoscopy. Patients were randomized to 1) the BIS group or 2) a control group, in which sedation was monitored with a BIS monitor or the Ramsay Sedation Score, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Information is scarce on clinical experiences with non-neutropenic patients with invasive fungal infection (IFI) receiving isavuconazole. We aimed to report the safety and effectiveness of this drug as a first-line treatment or rescue in real life. METHODS: A retrospective, observational multicentric study of non-neutropenic patients who received isavuconazole as an IFI treatment at 12 different university hospitals (January 2018 - 2022). All patients met criteria for proven, probable or possible IFI according to EORTC-MSG...

In the breath research community's search for volatile organic compounds that can act as non-invasive biomarkers for various diseases, hundreds of endogenous volatiles have been discovered. Whilst these systemic chemicals result from normal and abnormal metabolic activities or pathological disorders, to date very few are of any use for the development of clinical breath tests that could be used for disease diagnosis or to monitor therapeutic treatments. The reasons for this lack of application are manifold and complex, and these complications either limit or ultimately inhibit the analytical application of endogenous volatiles for use in the medical sciences...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Morinda citrifolia fruit juice (noni) is an herbal remedy documented to have antioxidant properties. It has been suggested that prevention of carcinogen-DNA adduct formation and the antioxidant activity of NJ may contribute to the cancer preventive effect. In the present study, the antitumor activity of noni was investigated in the presence of cyclophosphamide (CYL) in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: In vitro breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-468) were used to measure the percentage of inhibition and the IC50 ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The visceral organ-brain axis, mediated by vagal sensory neurons in the vagal nerve ganglion, is essential for maintaining various physiological functions. In this study, we investigated the impact of liver-projecting vagal sensory neurons on energy balance, hepatic steatosis, and anxiety-like behavior in mice under obesogenic conditions. METHODS: We performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing of vagal sensory neurons innervating the liver. Based on our snRNA-Seq results, we used the Avil CreERT2 strain to identify vagal sensory neurons that innervate the liver...

Background: The evaluation of volume status is essential to clinical decision-making, yet multiple studies have shown that physical exam does not reliably estimate a patient's intravascular volume. Venous excess ultrasound score (VExUS) is an emerging volume assessment tool that utilizes inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and pulse-wave Doppler waveforms of the portal, hepatic and renal veins to evaluate venous congestion. A point-of-care ultrasound exam initially developed by Beaubein-Souligny et al., VExUS represents a reproducible, non-invasive and accurate means of assessing intravascular congestion...

Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a major global health burden in terms of growing morbidity and mortality. Although many conditions can cause CLD, leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), viral hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury (DILI), alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are the most common culprits. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ), produced in the liver, is an important lipid mediator derived from the ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, arachidonic acid, and plays a critical role in hepatic homeostasis...

INTRODUCTION: The causes of diaphragmatic paresis are manifold. An association between neuralgic amyotrophy (NA) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been reported. We wondered about the prevalence of diaphragmatic disfunction and hepatitis E infection in our clinic. METHODS: From July 1st, 2020 to August 31st, 2023, patients presenting with diaphragmatic dysfunction and simultaneous clinical symptoms of an acute NA, or a history of NA, as well as patients with previously unexplained diaphragmatic dysfunction were examined for HEV infection...

Critical aspects of physiology and cell function exhibit self-sustained ~24-hour variations termed circadian rhythms. In the liver, circadian rhythms play fundamental roles in maintaining organ homeostasis. Here, we established and characterized an in vitro liver experimental system in which primary human hepatocytes display self-sustained oscillations. By generating gene expression profiles of these hepatocytes over time, we demonstrated that their transcriptional state is dynamic across 24 hours and identified a set of cycling genes with functions related to inflammation, drug metabolism, and energy homeostasis...

As the correlation between high fructose intake and metabolism-related diseases ( e.g. , obesity, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes) has been increasingly reported, the health benefits of consuming ice wine high in fructose have been called into question. In this study, 6-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were divided into control (pure water), fructose (130 g L-1 fructose solution), alcohol (11% alcohol solution), low-dose (50% diluted ice wine) and high-dose ice wine (100% ice wine) groups to investigate the effects and mechanisms of short-term (4 weeks) ice wine intake on hepatic glycolipid metabolism in mice...

Fatty liver is characterized by the expansion of lipid droplets (LDs) and is associated with the development of many metabolic diseases. We assessed the morphology of hepatic LDs and performed quantitative proteomics in lean, glucose-tolerant mice compared to high-fat diet (HFD) fed mice that displayed hepatic steatosis and glucose intolerance as well as high-starch diet (HStD) fed mice who exhibited similar levels of hepatic steatosis but remained glucose tolerant. Both HFD and HStD-fed mice had more and larger LDs than Chow-fed animals...

This review provides the current state of knowledge regarding the use of nutritional nanocompounds on exercise performance. The reviewed studies used the following nanocompounds: resveratrol-loaded lipid nanoparticles, folic acid into layered hydroxide nanoparticle, redox-active nanoparticles with nitroxide radicals, and iron into liposomes. Most of these nutritional nanocompounds seem to improve performance in endurance exercise compared to the active compound in the non-nanoencapsulated form and/or placebo...