Liver transplantation (LT) has become a standard treatment for end-stage liver diseases, and graft injury is intricately associated with poor prognosis. Granzyme B (GZMB) plays a vital role in natural killer (NK) cell biology, but whether NK-derived GZMB affects graft injury remains elusive. Through the analysis of single-cell RNA-sequencing data obtained from human LT grafts and the isolation of lymphocytes from mouse livers following ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), we demonstrated that 2NK cells with high expression of GZMB are enriched in patients and mice. Both systemically and liver-targeted depletion of NK cells led to a notable reduction in GZMB⁺ cell infiltration, subsequently resulting in diminished graft injury. Notably, the reconstitution of Il2rg ^-/- Rag2 ^-/- mice with purified Gzmb-KO NK cells demonstrated superior outcomes compared to those with wild-type NK cells. Crucially, global knockout of GZMB and pharmacological inhibition exhibited remarkable improvements in liver function in both mouse IRI and rat LT models. Moreover, a phosphorylated derivative of FDA-approved vidarabine was identified as an effective inhibitor of mouse GZMB activity by molecular dynamics, which could provide a potential avenue for therapeutic intervention. Therefore, targeting NK cell-derived GZMB during the LT process suggests potential therapeutic strategies to improve post-transplant outcomes.

To address the global shortage of donor organs, marginal donated livers are increasingly used in liver transplants, albeit with associated risks such as early graft dysfunction and primary non-function. Improving the quality of marginal donated livers is one of the focal areas in transplantation research. Machine perfusion is pivotal in this effort, reducing ischemia-reperfusion injuries and enhancing liver quality. Recently, advances in cell and gene therapy, combined with optimized machine perfusion strategies, have enabled precise interventions for specific organs, showing great potential in improving marginal donated liver quality and increasing recipient survival rates. These innovations have the potential to drive advancements in machine perfusion and organ repair and regeneration technologies.

Objective:To explore the role of ductular reaction in assessing the efficacy of liver transplantation.Method:From January 2015 to December 2020, he relevant clinical data were retrospectively reviewed for 100 recipients and their corresponding donors at Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital. They were assigned into two groups of hepatic steatosis (HS group, 65 cases) and non-hepatic steatosis (non-HS group, 35 cases) according to whether or not receiving steatosis donated liver. Furthermore, based upon the occurrence of early allograft dysfunction (EAD), the participants were categorized into two groups of EAD (33 cases) and non-EAD (67 cases). The degree of bile duct reaction ductular reaction was defined by the percentage of staining area occupied by cytokeratin 19 (CK19) -positive bile duct cells in immunohistochemical-stained specimens. Donor of ductular reaction were compared between HS/non-HS and EAD/non-EAD groups. The risk factors for EAD were identified by univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis. Subgroup analysis was conducted based upon the level of ductular reaction (DR number) in donors (DR=0.4 as a threshold) and whether or not donors exhibited steatosis. The impact of DR was examined on the incidence of EAD and survival post-liver transplantation in steatosis donors.Result:The level of DR was higher in steatosis donor than that in non-steatosis donor [ (0.59%±0.385%) vs. (0.32%±0.194%), P<0.01]. And it was higher in EAD group than that in non-EAD group [ (0.72%±0.449%) vs. (0.38%±0.226%), P<0.01]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a high level of ductular reaction was an independent risk factor for EAD post-liver transplantation in donor. Subgroup analysis revealed that receiving a steatosis donor with low ductular reaction (DR<0.4%) had comparable levels of EAD occurrence and overall survival rate to receiving a non-steatosis donor. Conclusion:Steatosis with low ductular reaction donor may be safely applied for liver transplantation. And assessing donor injury based upon ductular reaction can effectively expand the clinical application of steatosis donors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and is a major cause of cancer-related mortalities worldwide (Forner et al., 2018; He et al., 2023). Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by an accelerated loss of skeletal muscle (SM) mass that may be age-related or the result of malnutrition in cancer patients (Cruz-Jentoft and Sayer, 2019). Preoperative sarcopenia in HCC patients treated with hepatectomy or liver transplantation is an independent risk factor for poor survival (Voron et al., 2015; van Vugt et al., 2016). Previous studies have used various criteria to define sarcopenia, including muscle area and density. However, the lack of standardized diagnostic methods for sarcopenia limits their clinical use. In 2018, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) renewed a consensus on the definition of sarcopenia: low muscle strength, loss of muscle quantity, and poor physical performance (Cruz-Jentoft et al., 2019). Radiological imaging-based measurement of muscle quantity or mass is most commonly used to evaluate the degree of sarcopenia. The gold standard is to measure the SM and/or psoas muscle (PM) area using abdominal computed tomography (CT) at the third lumbar vertebra (L3), as it is linearly correlated to whole-body SM mass (van Vugt et al., 2016). According to a "North American Expert Opinion Statement on Sarcopenia," SM index (SMI) is the preferred measure of sarcopenia (Carey et al., 2019). The variability between morphometric muscle indexes revealed that they have different clinical relevance and are generally not applicable to broader populations (Esser et al., 2019).
Humans ; Aged ; Sarcopenia/diagnostic imaging* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/diagnostic imaging* ; Muscle, Skeletal/diagnostic imaging* ; Deep Learning ; Prognosis ; Radiomics ; Liver Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Retrospective Studies

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new combination treatment of vinorelbine and pyrotinib in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and provide higher level evidence for clinical practice. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, single-arm, phase 2 trial conducted at three institutions in China. Patients with HER2-positive MBC, who had previously been treated with trastuzumab plus a taxane or trastuzumab plus pertuzumab combined with a chemotherapeutic agent, were enrolled between March 2020 and December 2021. All patients received pyrotinib 400 mg orally once daily plus vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 intravenously or 60-80 mg/m2 orally on day 1 and day 8 of 21-day cycle. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoints included the objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival, and safety. Results: A total of 39 patients were enrolled. All patients had been pretreated with trastuzumab and 23.1% (n=9) of them had accepted trastuzumab plus pertuzumab. The median follow-up time was 16.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.3 to 27.2), and the median PFS was 6.4 months (95% CI, 4.0 to 8.8). The ORR was 43.6% (95% CI, 27.8% to 60.4%) and the DCR was 84.6% (95% CI, 69.5% to 94.1%). The median PFS of patients with versus without prior pertuzumab treatment was 4.6 and 8.3 months (p=0.017). The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were diarrhea (28.2%), neutrophil count decreased (15.4%), white blood cell count decreased (7.7%), vomiting (5.1%), and anemia (2.6%). Conclusion Pyrotinib plus vinorelbine showed promising efficacy and tolerable toxicity as second-line treatment in patients with HER2-positive MBC.

Objective:To explore the early and medium-long term outcomes of steatosis donor liver transplantation(LT)for an optimal clinical application.Methods:From January 2015 to December 2020, this retrospective cohort study was conducted jointly at Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University and First Hospital of Jilin University. The relevant clinicopathological and follow-up data were collected from 1535 LT recipients. For comparison, propensity score was utilized for case-control matching of steatosis and non-steatosis donor livers. According to presence or absence of liver steatosis, the recipients were divided into two groups of steatosis donor liver (n=243) and non-steatosis donor liver (n=1292). And 1∶1 propensity score matching was made for two groups. Then early and medium-long term outcomes of two groups were examined. Counts were described as absolute numbers. Kaplan-Meier method was employed for calculating survival time and plotting survival curve and Log-rank test for survival analysis. COX regression model was utilized for univariate and multivariate analyses. Based on basic metabolic disease pre-LT, steatosis donor liver recipients were divided into three subgroups: BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes (n=21), BMI<25 kg/m 2 and no hypertension or diabetes (n=130) and other recipients (n=92). A comparative study was performed for determining the prognosis of subgroups according to the different characteristics of recipient and donor liver. Results:No significant inter-group difference existed in 2-year survival post-LT ( P=0.174). However, significant inter-group difference in survival existed after 2 years post-LT ( P=0.004). And 3/5-year survival rate of steatosis donor liver was 66.4% and 44.2% respectively. Both were significantly lower than those of non-steatosis donor liver. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that steatosis donor liver and male recipients were independent risk factors for prognosis >2 years survival post-LT( P=0.008, P=0.004). Subgroup analysis of steatosis liver donors showed that the prognosis of patients with BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes was significantly worse than other subgroups (BMI <25 kg/m 2 with no hypertension or diabetes and other recipients) <2 years survival post-LT ( P=0.029, P=0.043). Conclusions:Steatosis donor liver does not affect early survival of recipients, yet reduces medium-long term survival rate of recipients notably. In steatosis donor liver recipients, early survival rate declines markedly in recipients with preoperative BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 with hypertension or diabetes as compared with BMI <25 kg/m 2 with no hypertension or diabetes group.

Liver cancer patients scheduled for liver transplantation (LT) are frequently accompanied by liver cirrhosis.Within a state of long-term malnutrition and inflammatory stress, they are prone to sarcopenia with a poor efficacy of LT.Influenced by such multiple factors as surgery, infections and metabolic disorders, there is an elevated risk of exacerbation or a new onset of sarcopenia after LT.Therefore meticulous managements of sarcopenia are required throughout all aspects and periods of LT.A refined recipient stratification system of sarcopenia can accurately predict the efficacy of LT and its evaluating system has been becoming more precise, diverse and intelligent.Currently basic researches of sarcopenia have remained in infancy and its interactions with the related organs have become a novel research field.Sarcopenia has become an emerging challenge of LT for liver cancer.Further mechanistic explorations of sarcopenia are warranted and clinical precision managements should be further optimized.

Objective:To investigate the techniques used in blood flow control of Kimura laparoscopic spleen-preserving pancreatectomy (LSPDP).Methods:Forty·five patients with benign or low-grade malignant pancreatic diseases undergoing LSPDP at Huzhou Central Hospital from May 2014 to Oct 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into splenic vascular flow control group ( n=22) and routine management group ( n=23). Results:There was no significant difference in gender, age, BMI, accompanying symptoms, hypertension, diabetes, lesion size and pathological diagnosis between the two groups (all P>0.05). A higher overall spleen preservation rate (90.9% vs. 52.2%, χ2=8.213, P=0.004), lower incidence of morbidity with Clavien grade ≥ Ⅱ (22.7% vs. 73.9%, χ2=9.911, P=0.002) and shorter postoperative hospital stay [(9.6±4.5) d vs. (14.3±6.6) d, t=2.447, P=0.008] were achieved in the vascular flow control group compared with those in the routine group. Conclusion:Splenic vascular flow control techniques improve the success rate of spleen preservation in laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy, reduce the postoperative complications and shorten the postoperative hospital stay.

Objective:To explore the safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICI)for patients with tumor recurrence after liver transplantation(LT).Methods:A single-center retrospective study was conducted for 6 recipients of tumor recurrence after LT on a therapy of ICI admitted into Shulan(Hang Zhou)Hospital from September 2015 to June 2018.The authors examined the occurrences of graft rejection and clinical outcomes of overall response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival after dosing of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.Results:Six patients enrolled with tumor recurrence on a therapy of ICI undergoing LT due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nivolumab (n=4) and duvalizumab (n=2) were administrated.The median session of treatment was 8.3(2-31) cycles.The disease outcomes were stable (3/6, 50%) and progressive (3/6, 50%), The progression-free survival time of 3 disease-controlled patients was 1.5, 16.2 and 18 months and the median survival time after recurrence was 19.75(10.8-37.8) months.Rejection occurred in 1 patients (1/6, 16.7%) and the occurring time of rejection was 28 days after PD-1 inhibitor dosing.After acute rejection, high-dose corticosteroids and immunoglobulin were ineffective and the patient died from acute rejection related liver failure.Conclusions:ICI may be employed as a salvage treatment for tumor recurrence after LT for HCC.Due to a possibility of severe acute rejection, usage should be cautious under close monitoring of liver function.

Objective:To investigate the prognosis and influencing factors of liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using steatotic donor liver.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 152 pairs of donors and the corresponding recipients undergoing LT for HCC in the two medical centers [89 pairs in Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital and 63 pairs in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine] from January 2015 to December 2019 were collected. Of 152 donors, there were 131 males and 21 females, aged (48±12)years, and there were 130 cases with liver mild steatosis and 22 cases with liver moderate steatosis. Of 152 recipients, there were 138 males and 14 females, aged (52±9)years. Observation indicators: (1) follow-up, overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients; (2) influencing factors for overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients; (3) construction and validation of nomogram prediction model for overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients. Follow-up was conducted using outpatient examination and telephone interview to detect survival and tumor recurrence of recipients up to December 2020. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( IQR). Count data were described as absolute numbers. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival time and draw survival curve, and the Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. The COX regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis. The independent risk factors were brought into the R 3.6.2 software to construct nomogram prediction model and draw the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The accuracy and discrimination of the nomogram prediction model were evaluated using the area under curve (AUC) and the calibration curve. Results:(1) Follow-up, overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients. All the 152 recipients undergoing LT for HCC using steatotic donor liver were followed up for 45.8(27.6)months, with the overall survival time and tumor recurrence free survival time of 36.5(32.3)months and 30.4(34.6)months. The 1-year, 3-year overall survival rates and tumor recurrence free rates of the 152 recipients were 73.4%, 55.8% and 62.2%, 43.4%, respectively. (2) Influencing factors for overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients. Results of univariate analysis showed that the donor liver cold ischemia time (CIT), the donor liver warm ischemia time (WIT), graft-to-recipient weight ratio (GRWR), ABO compatibility, recipient body mass index (BMI), recipient tumor diameter, recipient tumor number, recipient tumor differentiation degree, recipient preoperative alpha fetoprotein (AFP) were related factors influencing the overall survival of recipients ( hazard ratio=6.26, 1.90, 2.47, 4.08, 0.55, 5.16, 3.62, 5.28, 2.65, 95% confidence interval as 3.01?13.03, 1.07?3.38, 1.36?4.49, 2.07?8.03, 0.31?0.98, 2.56?10.42, 1.95?6.72, 1.60?17.42, 1.48?5.01, P<0.05) and the donor liver CIT, GRWR, ABO compatibility, recipient tumor diameter, recipient tumor number, recipient tumor differentiation degree, recipient preoperative AFP were related factors influencing the tumor recurrence free survival of recipients ( hazard ratio=4.24, 2.53, 4.05, 3.39, 3.10, 5.19, 2.63, 95% confidence interval as 2.50?7.21, 1.54?4.17, 2.12?7.72, 2.04?5.62, 1.91?5.03, 2.04?13.18, 1.61?4.30, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that donor liver CIT ≥8 hours, GRWR ≥2.5%, recipient tumor diameter ≥8 cm and recipient preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L were independent risk factors influencing the overall survival of recipients ( hazard ratio=4.21, 2.58, 4.10, 2.27, 95% confidence interval as 1.98?8.96, 1.24?5.35, 1.35?12.43, 1.13?4.56, P<0.05) and donor liver CIT ≥8 hours, GRWR ≥2.5%, recipient tumor diameter ≥8 cm, recipient tumor number ≥3 and recipient preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L were independent risk factors influencing the tumor recurrence free survival of recipients ( hazard ratio=3.37, 2.63, 2.42, 2.12, 2.22, 95% confidence interval as 1.70?6.67, 1.40?4.96, 1.04?5.66, 1.08?4.18, 1.26?3.90, P<0.05). (3) Construction and validation of nomogram prediction model for overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival of recipients. The donor live CIT, GRWR, recipient tumor diameter, recipient preoperative AFP were used to construct nomogram prediction model for overall survival of recipients and the donor liver CIT, GRWR, recipient tumor diameter, recipient tumor number, recipient preoperative AFP were used to construct nomogram prediction model for tumor recurrence free survival of recipients. The ROC curve showed that the AUC of the nomogram prediction model for overall survival of recipients was 0.84 (95% confidence interval as 0.76?0.92, P<0.05), with the optimal diagnostic value as 7.3 and the specificity and sensitivity as 87.6% and 70.0%. The AUC of the nomogram prediction model for tumor recurrence free survival of recipients was 0.79 (95% confidence interval as 0.71?0.87, P<0.05), with the optimal diagnostic value as 5.8 and the specificity and sensitivity as 97.4% and 52.5%. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram prediction model had good distinction for high risk recipients in overall survival and tumor recurrence free survival. Conclusion:Donor liver CIT ≥8 hours, GRWR ≥2.5%, recipient tumor diameter ≥8 cm and recipient preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L are independent risk factors influencing the overall survival of recipients who underwent LT for HCC using steatotic donor liver and donor liver CIT ≥8 hours, GRWR ≥2.5%, recipient tumor diameter ≥8 cm, recipient tumor number ≥ 3 and recipient preoperative AFP ≥400 μg/L are independent risk factors influencing the tumor recurrence free survival of recipients.