Objective Each item of the Chronic Hepatitis Quality of Life Scale (V2.0) was thoroughly analyzed and evaluated according to classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Methods The QLICD-CH (V2.0) scale was used to assess the life quality of 226 patients with chronic hepatitis who were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases from March 2019 to January 2020. By using CTT's coefficient of variation method, factor analysis method, Cronbach's alpha coefficient method and correlation coefficient method, macroscopic statistical analysis on the scale results was performed. IRT was used to microscopically analyze the information content, discrimination coefficient and difficulty parameters of each item. Results CTT analysis revealed that 36 items of the QLICD-CH (V2.0) scale satisfied three of the four statistical methods. IRT analysis showed that the average information content of 36 items was greater than 0.108, with the degree of discrimination ranging from -0.387 to 3.574; the degree of discrimination of 40 items was greater than 0.30; the difficulty coefficient of each item ranged from -14.805 to 9.057, with 31 items conformed to [-4, 4] and a monotonically increasing trend from b1 to b4. Conclusion The majority of items on the QLICD-CH (V2.0) scale perform well, but there are a few items that could be improved, optimized, or removed.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of low-dose plasma exchange (PE) combined with artificial liver in the treatment of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) and its effect on mortality rate after stratification. Methods A total of 272 ACLF patients who were admitted to Department of Infection and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, from January 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled and divided into low-dose PE+double plasma molecular absorption system (DPMAS)/hemoperfusion (HP) group ( n =190) and medical treatment group( n =82). Laboratory markers were collected before and after treatment, and clinical outcome was compared between the two groups; stratified analysis (early stage, early-middle stage, late stage or types A, B, C) was performed for the two groups according to Diagnostic and treatment guidelines for liver failure (2018 edition), and all patients were followed up to observe general status and death at 12 weeks (short-term) and 48 weeks (long-term) after discharge. The independent samples t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the paired samples t -test was used for comparison before and after treatment; the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Wilcoxon test was used for comparison before and after treatment; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Results Both low-dose PE combined with DPMAS/HP and medical treatment alone could reduce the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin (TBil), and blood ammonia and increase the level of albumin (Alb), and both groups had significant changes in these indices after treatment (all P < 0.05). Compared with medical treatment alone, low-dose PE combined with DPMAS/HP better reduced ALT, TBil, and blood ammonia and improved Alb, with significant changes in these indices after treatment (all P < 0.05). Low-dose PE combined with DPMAS/HP could significantly reduce bile acid, international normalized ratio, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, and MELD score and increase platelet-to-white blood cell ratio (all P < 0.05), while medical treatment alone could not improve the above indices (all P > 0.05). Compared with medical treatment alone, low-dose PE combined with DPMAS/HP could reduce the short-term mortality rate of ACLF patients, especially the short-term mortality rate of ACLF patients with early-stage, early-middle-stage or type A ACLF, and there were significant differences between the two groups (all P < 0.05). In the low-dose PE+DPMAS/HP group, the patients with early-stage ACLF had significantly lower short- and long-term mortality rates than those with late-stage ACLF, and the patients with type A ACLF had significantly lower short- and long-term mortality rates than those with type C ACLF (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Low-dose PE combined with DPMAS/HP has good clinical efficacy and can effectively reduce the short-term mortality rate of ACLF, especially the short-term mortality rate of patients with early-stage, early-middle-stage, or type A ACLF.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of action of integrin α4 (ITGA4) in liver fibrosis based on the anti-liver fibrosis effect of sticky sugar amino acid (SSAA) in rats. Methods A rat model of liver fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of CCl 4 , and then colchicine and low-, middle-, and high-dose SSAA were used for intervention, with blank control group and SSAA group as control. After 12 weeks of experimental intervention, serum and liver samples were collected to measure the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and HE staining and Sirius Red staining were used to observe the pathological conditions of liver tissue; quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the transcriptional level of ITGA4, integrin β1 (ITGB1), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1), alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and TIMP2 in liver tissue; Western blot was used to measure the relative protein expression levels of ITGA4, ITGB1, TGFβ1, α-SMA, MMP2, TIMP1, and TIMP2; immunohistochemistry was used to observe the protein expression of TGFβ1 and α-SMA. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t -test was used for comparison between two groups. Results There were significant increases in AST and ALT in the CCl 4 model group, and intervention with colchicine or low-, middle-, and high-dose SSAA reduced the levels of AST and ALT, with a significant difference between the CCl 4 model group and the other groups (all P < 0.05). HE staining and Sirius Red staining showed disordered structure of hepatic lobules and an increase in collagen fibers in the CCl 4 model group, and the structure of hepatic lobules was improved after intervention with colchicine or low-, middle-, and high-dose SSAA. The CCl 4 model group had significantly higher transcriptional levels of ITGA4, TGFβ1, α-SMA, and TIMP2 than the other groups, and there were significant reductions in the transcriptional levels of each factor after intervention with colchicine or SSAA, with a significant difference between the CCl 4 model group and the other groups (all P < 0.05). The CCl 4 model group had significantly higher protein expression levels of ITGA4, TGFβ1, α-SMA, TIMP2, and TIMP1 and a significantly lower protein expression level of MMP2 than the other groups, and intervention with colchicine or SSAA inhibited the expression of ITGA4, TGFβ1, α-SMA, TIMP2, and TIMP1 and promoted the expression of MMP2. Immunohistochemistry showed that the CCl 4 model group had significantly higher expression levels of TGFβ1 and α-SMA than the other groups, which was inhibited by intervention with colchicine or SSAA. The high-dose SSAA group had the most significant effect in reducing aminotransferases, improving lobular structure, and inhibiting the protein expression of liver fibrosis factors. Conclusion The high expression of ITGA4 in the liver is associated with the development of liver fibrosis, which is consistent with the increases in the expression of TGFβ1 and α-SMA. Inhibiting the expression of ITGA4 can provide more therapeutic targets for liver fibrosis and expand the anti-liver fibrosis mechanism of SSAA.