As new evidence emerges, treatment strategies toward the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B are evolving. In 2019, a panel of national hepatologists published a Consensus Statement on the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B. Currently, an international group of hepatologists has been assembled to evaluate research since the publication of the original consensus, and to collaboratively develop the updated statements. The 2.0 Consensus was aimed to update the original consensus with the latest available studies, and provide a comprehensive overview of the current relevant scientific literatures regarding functional cure of hepatitis B, with a particular focus on issues that are not yet fully clarified. These cover the definition of functional cure of hepatitis B, its mechanisms and barriers, the effective strategies and treatment roadmap to achieve this endpoint, in particular new surrogate biomarkers used to measure efficacy or to predict response, and the appropriate approach to pursuing a functional cure in special populations, the development of emerging antivirals and immunomodulators with potential for curing hepatitis B. The statements are primarily intended to offer international guidance for clinicians in their practice to enhance the functional cure rate of chronic hepatitis B.

As new evidence emerges, treatment strategies toward the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B are evolving. In 2019, a panel of national hepatologists published a Consensus Statement on the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B. Currently, an international group of hepatologists has been assembled to evaluate research since the publication of the original consensus, and to collaboratively develop the updated statements. The 2.0 Consensus was aimed to update the original consensus with the latest available studies, and provide a comprehensive overview of the current relevant scientific literatures regarding functional cure of hepatitis B, with a particular focus on issues that are not yet fully clarified. These cover the definition of functional cure of hepatitis B, its mechanisms and barriers, the effective strategies and treatment roadmap to achieve this endpoint, in particular new surrogate biomarkers used to measure efficacy or to predict response, and the appropriate approach to pursuing a functional cure in special populations, the development of emerging antivirals and immunomodulators with potential for curing hepatitis B. The statements are primarily intended to offer international guidance for clinicians in their practice to enhance the functional cure rate of chronic hepatitis B.

As new evidence emerges, treatment strategies toward the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B are evolving. In 2019, a panel of national hepatologists published a Consensus Statement on the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B. Currently, an international group of hepatologists has been assembled to evaluate research since the publication of the original consensus, and to collaboratively develop the updated statements. The 2.0 Consensus was aimed to update the original consensus with the latest available studies, and provide a comprehensive overview of the current relevant scientific literatures regarding functional cure of hepatitis B, with a particular focus on issues that are not yet fully clarified. These cover the definition of functional cure of hepatitis B, its mechanisms and barriers, the effective strategies and treatment roadmap to achieve this endpoint, in particular new surrogate biomarkers used to measure efficacy or to predict response, and the appropriate approach to pursuing a functional cure in special populations, the development of emerging antivirals and immunomodulators with potential for curing hepatitis B. The statements are primarily intended to offer international guidance for clinicians in their practice to enhance the functional cure rate of chronic hepatitis B.

OBJECTIVE: To explore and analyze the clinical efficacy of robotic-assisted versus traditional total hip arthroplasty. METHODS: A total of 186 patients with end-stage hip joint diseases treated from January 2023 to April 2025 were selected as the research subjects. Among them, 85 patients were screened out using propensity score matching and divided into two groups according to different treatment methods:manual total hip arthroplasty (mTHA) group (mTHA group) and robotic-assisted total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) group (rTHA group). In mTHA group, there were 50 patients, including 18 males and 32 females, age ranged from 37 to 78 years old with a mean of (60.12±10.93) years old;body mass index (BMI) ranged from 16.6 to 32.0 kg·m^-2 with an average of (23.98±3.78) kg·m^-2;27 cases involved the left hip, and 23 cases involved the right hip. In the rTHA group, there were 35 patients, including 14 males and 21 females, age ranged from 31 to 76 years old with an average of (57.14±12.18) years old;the BMI ranged from 17.1 to 33.0 kg·m^-2 with a mean of (22.76±2.54) kg·m^-2;13 cases involved the left hip, and 22 cases involved the right hip. The following parameters were analyzed and compared between the two groups:acetabular anteversion angle, acetabular abduction angle, difference in combined offset, difference in lower limb length, proportion of acetabula located in the Lewinnek safe zone after surgery, operation time, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) score, and Harris hip score (HHS). RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 3 to 9 months, with an average of (6.8±1.3) months. In rTHA group and mTHA group, the abduction angles were (40.73±4.62)° and (40.95±4.71)° respectively;the differences in combined offset were (0.42±0.28) mm and (0.60±0.23) mm respectively;the WOMAC scores were(20.9±5.4) and (20.2±4.6) respectively;and the VAS were (1.1±1.0) and (1.0±0.8) respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the above indicators between the two groups (P>0.05). However, statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in the following aspects(P<0.05):the differences in lower limb length were (3.17±0.15) mm and (5.28±0.47) mm respectively;the postoperative acetabular anteversion angles were(22.84±2.83)° and (25.72±3.29)° respectively;the HHS were (80.7±5.5) and (74.8±6.3) respectively;and the operation times were (148.20±46.82) minutes and (81.84±18.76) minutes respectively. CONCLUSION Robot-assisted total hip arthroplasty demonstrates superior implant accuracy and improved early functional recovery compared with traditional manual THA. Nevertheless, it is associated with significantly longer operation time. Long-term prosthesis survival rate requires further follow-up verification.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Adult ; Robotic Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides in the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression.Methods An open,single-arm,multi-center design was adopted in our study.Adult patients with mild and moderate depression who had received acute treatment of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides were enrolled and continue to receive Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules for 24 weeks,the dose remained unchanged during continuation treatment.The remission rate,recurrence rate,recurrence time,and the change from baseline to endpoint of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD),Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Clinical Global Impression-Severity(CGI-S)and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale(ASEX)were evaluated.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was reported.Results The scores of HAMD-17 at baseline and after treatment were 6.60±1.87 and 5.85±4.18,scores of HAMA were 6.36±3.02 and 4.93±3.09,scores of CGI-S were 1.49±0.56 and 1.29±0.81,scores of ASEX were 15.92±4.72 and 15.57±5.26,with significant difference(P＜0.05).After continuation treatment,the remission rate was 54.59％(202 cases/370 cases),and the recurrence rate was 6.49％(24 cases/370 cases),the recurrence time was(64.67±42.47)days.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was 15.35％(64 cases/417 cases).Conclusion Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules can be effectively used for the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression,and are well tolerated and safe.

Objective To explore clinical outcomes and bone resection of interlaminar fenestration decompression and u-nilateral biportal endoscopic(UBE)technique in treating lumbar disc herniation(LDH).Methods A retrospective study was performed on 105 patients with single-level LDH treated from December 2019 to December 2021.Fifty-four patients in UBE group,including 32 males and 22 females,aged from 18 to 50 years old with an average of(38.7±9.3)years old,were treated with UBE,29 patients withL4.5and 25 patients with L5S1.There were 51 patients in small fenestration group,including 27 males and 24 females,aged from 18 to 50 years old with an average of(39.9±10.0)years old,were treated with small fenestra-tion,25 patients with L4.5 and 26 patients with L5S1.Perioperative indexes,such as operation time,postoperative time of getting out of bed and hospital stay were observed and compared between two groups.Visual analogue scale(VAS)and Oswestry dis-ability index(ODI)were compared between two groups before operation and 1,3,6 and 12 months after operation,respective-ly;and modified MacNab evaluation criteria was used to evaluate clinical efficacy.Amount of bone resection and retention rate of inferior articular process laminoid complex were compared between two groups.Results All 105 patients were successfully completed operation.Both of two groups were followed up from 6 to 12 months with an average of(10.69±2.49)months.Oper-ation time,postoperative time of getting out of bed and hospital stay were(58.20±5.54)min,(2.40±0.57)dand(3.80±0.61)d in UBE group,and(62.90±7.14)min,(4.40±0.64)d and(4.40±0.64)d in small fenestrum group,respectively;and had sta-tistically difference between two groups(P＜0.05).Postoperative VAS of low back and leg pain and ODI in both groups were significantly lower than those before surgery(P＜0.05).VAS of lumbar pain in UBE group(1.37±0.49)score was lower than that of small fenestration group(2.45±0.64)score,and had statistically difference(t=9.745,P＜0.05).Postoperative ODI in UBE group at 1 and 3 months were(28.54±3.31)％and(22.87±3.23)％,respectively,which were lower than those in small fenestra group(36.31±9.08)％and(29.90±8.36)％,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There were no significant difference in VAS and ODI between two groups at other time points(P＞0.05).According to the modified MacNab evaluation criteria at the latest follow-up,49 patients got excellent result,3 good,and 2 fair in UBE group.In small fenestration group,35 patients got excellent,12 good,and 4 fair.In UBE group,amount of bone resection on L4,5 segment was(0.45±0.08)cm3 and(0.31±0.08)cm3 on the segment of L5S1.In small fenestration group,amount of bone resection on L4.5 segment was(0.57±0.07)cm3 and(0.49±0.04)cm3 on the segment of L5S1,and amount of bone resection of lower articular process laminar complex on the same segment in UBE group was less than that in small fenestration group(P＜0.05).In UBE group,retention rate of laminoid complex on L4,5 segment was(0.73±0.04)and L5S1 segment was(0.83±0.03),whileL4,5segment was(0.68± 0.06)and L5S1 segment was(0.74±0.04)in small fenestration group,the lower articular process laminar complex retention rate in UBE group was higher than that in small fenestration group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Both unilateral double-channel endoscopy and small fenestration of laminae could achieve good clinical results in treating LDH,but UBE has advantages of less trauma,higher eficiency,faster postoperative recovery and less damage to bone structure.

Objective:To identify the differentially expressed proteins that caused hippocampal damage after liver ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods:Eighteen clean-grade healthy juvenile male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 2 weeks, weighing 20-30 g, were divided into 2 groups ( n=9 each) using a random number table method: sham operation group (S group) and liver I/R group (IR group). A rat model of liver I/R injury was prepared by restoring perfusion after 1 h of liver ischemia. The rats were sacrificed after being anesthetized at day 3 of reperfusion, and the hippocampal tissue was isolated and analyzed to obtain gene expression profiles. Differentially expressed genes were identified using the R software, and further protein interaction networks were constructed through Cytoscape and Kyoto Encyclopedia Genes and Genomes pathway analysis to determine the differentially expressed proteins. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used for validation. Results:A total of 45 differentially expressed proteins were identified by the proteomic analysis of hippocampal tissues, including 36 significantly up-regulated proteins and 9 significantly down-regulated proteins. The proteins with significant expression related to injury were identified from the PPI network complex using the CytoHubBA plug-in cystscape: Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate (RAC2), HRAS, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitor phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN), and N-methyl-D-aspartate ionotropic glutamate receptor 2b (GRIN2b). The results of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot showed that the expression of RAC2, HRAS, PTEN, and GRIN2b in the hippocampal tissue was significantly up-regulated in IR group compared with S group ( P<0.05). The results of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that differentially expressed proteins were significantly enriched in the expression of PD-L1 and its checkpoint pathway, long-term potentiation, and regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway in cancer. Conclusions:The mechanism by which liver I/R induces hippocampal injury may be related to the up-regulation of the expression of RAC2, HRAS, PTEN and GRIN2b in rats.

Background/Aims: Despite the high efficacy of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), approximately 1–3% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients fail to achieve a sustained virological response. We conducted a nationwide study to investigate risk factors associated with DAA treatment failure. Machine-learning algorithms have been applied to discriminate subjects who may fail to respond to DAA therapy. Methods: We analyzed the Taiwan HCV Registry Program database to explore predictors of DAA failure in HCV patients. Fifty-five host and virological features were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and artificial neural network. The primary outcome was undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results: The training (n=23,955) and validation (n=10,346) datasets had similar baseline demographics, with an overall DAA failure rate of 1.6% (n=538). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, poor DAA adherence, and higher hemoglobin A1c were significantly associated with virological failure. XGBoost outperformed the other algorithms and logistic regression models, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.000 in the training dataset and 0.803 in the validation dataset. The top five predictors of treatment failure were HCV RNA, body mass index, α-fetoprotein, platelets, and FIB-4 index. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the XGBoost model (cutoff value=0.5) were 99.5%, 69.7%, 99.9%, 97.4%, and 99.5%, respectively, for the entire dataset. Conclusions Machine learning algorithms effectively provide risk stratification for DAA failure and additional information on the factors associated with DAA failure.

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who failed antiviral therapy are at increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the potential role of metformin and statins, medications for diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperlipidemia (HLP), in reducing HCC risk among these patients. Methods: We included CHC patients from the T-COACH study who failed antiviral therapy. We tracked the onset of HCC 1.5 years post-therapy by linking to Taiwan’s cancer registry data from 2003 to 2019. We accounted for death and liver transplantation as competing risks and employed Gray’s cumulative incidence and Cox subdistribution hazards models to analyze HCC development. Results: Out of 2,779 patients, 480 (17.3%) developed HCC post-therapy. DM patients not using metformin had a 51% increased risk of HCC compared to non-DM patients, while HLP patients on statins had a 50% reduced risk compared to those without HLP. The 5-year HCC incidence was significantly higher for metformin non-users (16.5%) versus non-DM patients (11.3%; adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio [aSHR]=1.51; P=0.007) and metformin users (3.1%; aSHR=1.59; P=0.022). Statin use in HLP patients correlated with a lower HCC risk (3.8%) compared to non-HLP patients (12.5%; aSHR=0.50; P<0.001). Notably, the increased HCC risk associated with non-use of metformin was primarily seen in non-cirrhotic patients, whereas statins decreased HCC risk in both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. Conclusions Metformin and statins may have a chemopreventive effect against HCC in CHC patients who failed antiviral therapy. These results support the need for personalized preventive strategies in managing HCC risk.

Humans ; Child ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes/complications* ; Medulla Oblongata/pathology* ; Neoplasms/complications*