Cholestasis ; Humans ; Liver Diseases

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor with the second highest mortality rate in China, and annual deaths account for 51% of all deaths in the world.HCC brings heavy burdens to the society and medical care in China.Early diagnosis is one of the most important methods for preventing HCC and improving survival rate of HCC patients, and the development of simple, convenient, and quick diagnostic methods is a direction for current research.Methods for the early diagnosis of HCC mainly include imaging diagnosis and measurements of protein markers and molecular markers.Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has an important value in the early diagnosis of HCC.OneStep AFP test helps the patients to measure AFP at home by themselves and realize the regular monitoring of AFP level, which supports the early diagnosis of HCC and creates a new approach for early screening and diagnosis of HCC.

Biomarkers ; blood ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnosis ; Models, Biological

Acid-related disorders are commonly seen diseases of upper digestive tract which are closely related to acid attack.Antacids and acid inhibitors are the main drugs in the therapy of acid-related disorders.There are complex interrelationships between antacids and acid inhibitors and other drugs.This article reviewed the application and evaluation of antacids and acid inhibitors in acid-related disorders.

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage of various chronic liver diseases.Early diagnosis and staging of liver cirrhosis,as well as effective disease assessment,are of great clinical significance.The application of liver biopsy,serological testing,and radiological examination in the clinical diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and the research advances in evaluation of liver reserve function,complications,and prognosis are re-viewed.It is pointed out that with the development of molecular biological and imaging techniques,the accuracy and specificity of noninva-sive diagnosis will be increased,and the disease assessment system will be improved.

Recently,the relationship between intestinal dysbacteriosis and chronic liver disease has received much attention. The imbalance of intestinal flora microecology,such as overgrowth of gram negative bacteria,leads to intestinal endotoxemia,and endotoxemia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease. This article reviewed the advances in study on relationship between enterohepatic circulation and chronic liver disease.

Recent studies have shown that complications of cirrhotic portal hypertension often involve multiple organs,which is called multiple organ dysfunction syndrome by some scholars.When muhiple organ failure occurs,there is a significant increase in patients'short-term death rate,and death rate is associated with the number of organs involved.This article briefly describes the physiopothologic mechanisms of portal hypertension and visceral vasodilation and summarizes the pathological changes of vital organs including the heart,lung,kidney,brain,and liver and related pathogenesis.At present,liver transplantation remains the most effective therapy,but it still has some shortcomings.It is pointed out that further studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms of action of each link in disease development,and more targets are needed in the future to prevent and treat multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)is a clinical syndrome characterized by hepatic fat deposition, and not caused by chronic heavy drinking and other liver damage factors. The pathogenesis of NAFLD is associated with environmental,genetic,immune and other various factors. Early diagnosis is helpful not only for distinguishing between simple non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL)and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH),but also for grading the extent of NAFLD lesion and delaying its further development. This article reviewed the clinical research progress of non-invasive diagnosis and evaluation of NAFLD.

The liver has a strong regenerative capacity,and in case of acute injury,the proliferation of mature hepatocytes helps to complete liver regeneration.However,in case of chronic injury,the proliferative capacity of mature hepatocytes is damaged or exhausted,and the activation,proliferation,and differentiation of hepatic progenitor cells are involved in liver regeneration.This article summarizes the characteristics and origins of hepatic progenitor cells,their role in tissue repair after liver injury and development of liver cancer,and potentials and problems of cell transplantation in the treatment of liver diseases.It is pointed out that an understanding of the biological characteristics of hepatic progenitor cells,their role in liver injury and liver cancer,and related pathogenesis helps with the treatment of liver diseases.

Background:High-fat diet leads to intestinal mucosa barrier dysfunction,but the mechanism is not clear. High-fat diet can induce increase of bile acid. Aims:To investigate whether the high bile acid induced by high-fat diet could act on intestinal stem cell to disrupt stem cell differentiation and imparing the intestinal mucosa. Methods:Twenty-four rats were divided into 3 groups:fed with regular diet,high-fat diet and high-fat diet + cholestyramine,respectively,for 2 weeks. Serum bile acid was detected by ELISA. Ileal diameter was measured and HE staining was performed to observe histology of intestinal mucosa. Expression of Lgr5 gene was determined by RT-qPCR. Ileal tissue fed with regular diet was cultured with deoxycholic acid(DCA)or DCA + cholestyramine for 24 hours in vitro,expression of Lgr5 gene was determined by RT-qPCR. Results:Compared with control group,serum bile acid was significantly increased(P < 0. 05),ileal diameter was significantly decreased,height of intestinal crypts and villus was significantly decreased(P < 0. 05),and expression of Lgr5 gene was significantly decreased in high-fat diet group(P < 0. 01). All the above-mentioned indices were significantly ameliorated in high-fat diet + cholestyramine group(P < 0. 05). In vitro study showed that expression of Lgr5 gene was significantly decreased in DCA group than in control group(P < 0. 01),and cholestyramine could significantly increase expression of Lgr5 gene(P < 0. 05). Conclusions:High-fat diet induced increasing of circulatory bile acid can cause injury of intestinal mucosa by inhibiting stem cell function,which can be ameliorated by cholestyramine.