Influence of helicobacter pylori infection on Chinese adult males' body muscle mass: a cross-sectional and cohort analysis.

Aim: Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection may cause many disorders outside the digestive system, although research on the association between HP infection and muscular atrophy among males is limited. This study aimed to examine the influence of HP infection on adult Chinese males' body muscle mass using a cross-sectional and cohort analysis.

Methods: A total of 8110 Chinese adult males were enrolled in the study.

International clinical practice guideline on the use of traditional Chinese medicine for functional dyspepsia (2025).

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterized by persistent or recurrent dyspeptic symptoms without identifiable organic, systemic or metabolic causes, is an increasingly recognized global health issue. The objective of this guideline is to equip clinicians and nursing professionals with evidence-based strategies for the management and treatment of adult patients with FD using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Guideline Development Group consulted existing TCM consensus documents on FD and convened a panel of 35 clinicians to generate initial clinical queries.

Skeletal muscle index/systemic immune-inflammation index (SMI/SII) ratio predicts prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Systemic inflammation and skeletal muscle are associated with prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The prognostic value of a combination of skeletal muscle index (SMI) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) remains unclear. The present study aims to investigate the prognostic value of combined SMI and SII in predicting overall survival (OS) for HCCs after liver resection (LR) or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

High Fibroblast Activation Protein Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: CT Imaging Features and Histological Characteristics.

Rationale And Objectives: To clarify computed tomography (CT) imaging features of high fibroblast activation protein (FAP) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to investigate their correlation to histological characteristics and prognosis.

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study evaluated patients with HCC who underwent liver resection between August 2013 and June 2023. Histological staining for FAP was performed, and patients were classified into low and high-FAP expression groups.

[Risk factors for hypoxemia in children with severe pneumonia].

Objectives: To study the risk factors for hypoxemia in children with severe pneumonia (SMPP).

Methods: A retrospective collection of clinical data from children diagnosed with SMPP at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June to December 2023 was conducted. The patients were categorized into hypoxemia and non-hypoxemia groups.

[Protective effect of Codonopsis Radix fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum on gastric mucosa in rat model of acute gastric ulcer].

This study aims to decipher the mechanism of the broth of Codonopsis Radix fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum(FCR) on the gastric mucosa in the rat model of acute gastric ulcer. A total of 64 SD rats were randomized into 8 groups: control, model, positive control(omeprazole), probiotic, unfermented Codonopsis Radix, and low-, medium-and high-dose FCR, with 8 rats in each group. The rat model of acute gastric ulcer was established by gavage with anhydrous ethanol.

Identification of proliferative hepatocellular carcinoma using the SMARS score and implications for microwave ablation.

Objective: To compare therapeutic outcomes of predicted proliferative and nonproliferative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after microwave ablation (MWA) using a previously developed imaging-based predictive model, the SMARS score.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included consecutive 635 patients with unresectable HCC who underwent MWA between August 2013 and September 2020. Patients were stratified into predicted proliferative and nonproliferative phenotypes according to the SMARS score.

Lung Cancer Biomarkers Associated with Increased Peripheral Arterial Stiffness in Middle-aged Chinese Adults.

Aims: Previous evidence suggests that serum lung cancer biomarkers are associated with inflammatory conditions; however, their relationship with peripheral arterial stiffness remains unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between serum lung cancer biomarkers and peripheral arterial stiffness in middle-aged Chinese adults.

Methods: In total, 3878 middle-aged Chinese adults were enrolled in this study.

Identifying Proliferative Hepatocellular Carcinoma at Pretreatment CT: Implications for Therapeutic Outcomes after Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Background Hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) can be divided into proliferative and nonproliferative types, which may have implications for outcomes after conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE). Biopsy to identify proliferative HCC is not routinely performed before cTACE. Purpose To develop and validate a predictive model for identifying proliferative HCCs using CT imaging features and to compare therapeutic outcomes between predicted proliferative and nonproliferative HCCs after cTACE according to this model.

An Integrated Liver Function, Systemic Inflammation, and Tumor Characteristic Score Predicts Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Resection.

Background: Several scoring systems are currently used to predict prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but none of them integrates liver function, systemic inflammation, and tumor characteristics in a unified model. The current study aimed to develop and validate a novel prognostic score that integrates liver function, systemic inflammation, and tumor characteristics in a unified model to predict the prognosis of HCC after curative resection.

Methods: Patients with HCC who underwent curative liver resection were included in a training set (n = 1027).

Differential analysis of intestinal microbiota and metabolites in mice with dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis.

Background: Intestinal micro-ecological imbalances impair the intestinal barrier and induce intestinal inflammation, for example, ulcerative colitis (UC). According to the latest research, abnormalities in intestinal microbiota structure and their metabolites play a dominant role in UC progression; in addition, they could affect the mucus barrier based on different factors. Although numerous studies have confirmed the important role of intestinal microbiota in UC pathogenesis, the intricate connection between microbiota and metabolites and mucus barrier in UC occurrence remains unclear, and correlation analyses of differential microbiota and their metabolites under UC are relatively scarce.

Ideal patients for liver resection in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer or Hong Kong Liver clinic systems for hepatocellular carcinoma: Conservative or aggressive?

Background: Both the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging and the Hong Kong Liver Cancer (HKLC) staging have their own definitions of ideal patients for liver resection (IPLR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to compare the prognosis of IPLRs between the BCLC and HKLC staging systems, and to identify patients who may benefit from liver resection (LR) in the HKLC staging but beyond the BCLC staging.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 1,296 consecutive patients with HCC who underwent LR between August 2013 and April 2021 (457 patients and 1,046 patients were IPLR according to the BCLC and HKLC staging systems, respectively).

Liver resection versus microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma in ideal candidates for ablation per Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging: a propensity score matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis.

Background: Liver resection (LRE) and microwave ablation (MWA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been widely compared.

Aims: To compare the therapeutic outcomes of percutaneous MWA and LRE for HCC in ideal candidates for ablation according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging METHODS: Between August 2013 and November 2020, 483 consecutive patients meeting criteria for "ideal candidates for ablation" per the BCLC staging initially treated with MWA (n = 168) or LRE (n = 315) were included. Patients were further divided into BCLC-0 (n = 116) and BCLC-A (n = 367) groups.

Chenodeoxycholic Acid Enhances the Effect of Sorafenib in Inhibiting HepG2 Cell Growth Through EGFR/Stat3 Pathway.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly invasive disease with a high mortality rate. Our previous study found that Chenodeoxycholic acid CDCA) as an endogenous metabolite can enhance the anti-tumor effect. Sorafenib has limited overall efficacy as a first-line agent in HCC, and combined with CDCA may improve its efficacy.

Tumor enhancement ratio with unenhanced imaging is an independent prognostic factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization.

Objective: To investigative whether the odds tumor enhancement ratio (OTER) on cross-sectional imaging is a prognostic factor for hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: This study involved 126 patients who underwent TACE from May 2015 to March 2019. The signal intensity/Hounsfield units (HU) was measured by placing regions of interest on the tumor and surrounding liver in unenhanced and arterial-phase contrast-enhanced cross-sectional images.

Chemoembolization Plus Microwave Ablation vs Chemoembolization Alone in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond the Milan Criteria: A Propensity Scoring Matching Study.

Purpose: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is recommended in patients with unresectable HCC beyond the Milan criteria (MC). However, the long-term efficacy of TACE remains unsatisfactory. Percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) is a curative therapy for early-stage HCC that provides better local tumor control than TACE; however, MWA is limited for large or multifocal lesions.

Predicting early refractoriness of transarterial chemoembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using a random forest algorithm: A pilot study.

To develop and validate a random forest (RF) based predictive model of early refractoriness to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 227 patients with unresectable HCC who initially treated with TACE from three independent institutions were retrospectively included. Following a random split, 158 patients (70%) were assigned to a training cohort and the remaining 69 patients (30%) were assigned to a validation cohort.

Intestinal microbiota participates in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease progression by affecting intestinal homeostasis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease with a pathogenesis that has not been fully elucidated. With the development of the theory of the gut-liver axis and the deepening of related research, the role of the intestinal tract in the pathogenesis of NAFLD has been investigated more. Intestinal microbiota, intestinal metabolites, and intestinal epithelial and immune-based barriers constitute the intestinal environment, which uses crosstalk to maintain the homeostasis of the intestinal environment.

Malic enzyme 2 promotes the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via increasing triglyceride production.

The incidence and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are gradually increasing during the past years. Recently, some studies have reported that malic enzyme (ME) plays an important role in cancer development, while the involvement of ME2 in HCC remains still undetermined. Here, we demonstrated that ME2 played an oncogenic role in HCC.

Systemic Inflammation Response Index is a Prognostic Risk Factor in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing TACE.

Background: Mounting evidence has shown that systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), a novel prognostic biomarker based on peripheral lymphocyte, neutrophil and monocyte counts, is associated with poor prognosis for several tumors. However, the prognostic value of SIRI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is elusive. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between SIRI and clinical outcomes in these patients.

Effectiveness of sharp recanalization of superior vena cava-right atrium junction occlusion.

Background: Conventional recanalization techniques may fail in patients with completely occluded superior vena cava (SVC).

Aim: To analyze the effectiveness and complications of sharp recanalization for completely occluded SVC.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients that underwent puncture and recanalization of the SVC between January 2016 and December 2017 at our hospital.

Development and Validation of a Predictive Model for Early Refractoriness of Transarterial Chemoembolization in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

To develop and validate a predictive model for early refractoriness of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this multicenter retrospective study, a total of 204 consecutive patients who initially underwent TACE were included. Early TACE refractoriness was defined as patients presented with TACE refractoriness after initial two consecutive TACE procedures.

Serum metabolic profiling of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

Objective: The clinical symptoms of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) can be effectively improved by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment, based on the usage of specific therapies for different TCM syndromes. However, in the stage of diagnosis, the standard criteria for the classification of TCM syndrome were still deficient. Through serum metabolic profiling, this study aimed to explore potential biomarkers in IBS-D patients with different TCM syndromes, which can assist in diagnosis of the disease.