To examine the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) and investigate the horizontal transmission of blaKPC and blaNDM genes for the prevention and treatment of CRKP. A total of 49 clinically isolated CRKP strains were retrospectively analyzed from January to December 2022 at The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine. Phenotypic screening was performed using modified carbapenem inactivation assay (mCIM) and EDTA-carbapenem inactivation assay (eCIM). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was utilized to identify carbapenem resistance genes, β-lactamase resistance genes, and virulence genes, while multi-locus sequence analysis (MLST) was employed to assess the homology of CRKP strains. Conjugation experiments were conducted to infer the horizontal transmission mechanism of blaKPC and blaNDM genes. The results showed that the study included 49 CRKP strains, with 44 carrying blaKPC and 8 carrying blaNDM, Three strains were identified as blaKPC+ blaNDM-CRKP. In this study, 28 out of 49 CRKP strains (57.2%) were found to carry virulence genes. Additionally, one CRKP strain tested positive in the string test and was found to carry both Aerobactin and rmpA virulence genes. MLST results revealed a total of 5 ST types, with ST11 being predominant (41/49, 83.7%). Successful conjugation was observed in all 3 blaKPC-CRKP strains, while only 1 out of 3 blaNDM-CRKP strains showed successful conjugation. The transconjugant exhibited significantly reduced susceptibility to imipenem and cephalosporin antibiotics. In conclusion, the resistance mechanism of CRKP in this study is primarily attributed to the production of KPC enzymes, along with the presence of multiple β-lactamase resistance genes. Additionally, there is a local prevalence of hv-CRKP and blaKPC+ blaNDM-CRKP. blaKPC and blaNDM can be horizontally transmitted through plasmids, with varying efficiency among different strains.

To examine the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) and investigate the horizontal transmission of blaKPC and blaNDM genes for the prevention and treatment of CRKP. A total of 49 clinically isolated CRKP strains were retrospectively analyzed from January to December 2022 at The First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine. Phenotypic screening was performed using modified carbapenem inactivation assay (mCIM) and EDTA-carbapenem inactivation assay (eCIM). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was utilized to identify carbapenem resistance genes, β-lactamase resistance genes, and virulence genes, while multi-locus sequence analysis (MLST) was employed to assess the homology of CRKP strains. Conjugation experiments were conducted to infer the horizontal transmission mechanism of blaKPC and blaNDM genes. The results showed that the study included 49 CRKP strains, with 44 carrying blaKPC and 8 carrying blaNDM, Three strains were identified as blaKPC+ blaNDM-CRKP. In this study, 28 out of 49 CRKP strains (57.2%) were found to carry virulence genes. Additionally, one CRKP strain tested positive in the string test and was found to carry both Aerobactin and rmpA virulence genes. MLST results revealed a total of 5 ST types, with ST11 being predominant (41/49, 83.7%). Successful conjugation was observed in all 3 blaKPC-CRKP strains, while only 1 out of 3 blaNDM-CRKP strains showed successful conjugation. The transconjugant exhibited significantly reduced susceptibility to imipenem and cephalosporin antibiotics. In conclusion, the resistance mechanism of CRKP in this study is primarily attributed to the production of KPC enzymes, along with the presence of multiple β-lactamase resistance genes. Additionally, there is a local prevalence of hv-CRKP and blaKPC+ blaNDM-CRKP. blaKPC and blaNDM can be horizontally transmitted through plasmids, with varying efficiency among different strains.

Objective:To analyze the hepatic pathological inflammation and fibrosis condition in order to explore the relationship with related clinical indicators in patients with chronic hepatitis B patients with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT).Methods:721 cases of chronic hepatitis B with normal ALT who were initially diagnosed in the Department of Infectious Diseases of Henan Provincial People's Hospital from August 2016 to December 2019 were retrospectively collected. Liver biopsy was performed in all patients. General data of patients such as gender, age, liver function indexes, blood routine indexes, HBsAg level, HBeAg status, HBV DNA level, spleen thickness and prothrombin time were collected. Univariate and multivariate analysis methods were used to determine the influencing factors of inflammation and fibrosis degree with liver biopsy. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the established multi-factor prediction model. Alpha=0.05 was considered as a standard orientation of test.Results:The average age of 721 cases with chronic hepatitis B was 36.1±9.7 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.28/1, with inflammation and fibrosis grade mainly concentrated in G1S1 (349 cases), G1S2 (132 cases), G2S2 (119 cases), and G2S1 (57 cases). Among them, there were 349 (48.4%) cases of G1S1, and 372 (51.6%) cases of G/S≥2. The main manifestations were mild to moderate inflammation and fibrosis, and only 64 (8.88%) cases had severe G/S≥3. HBsAg level (stratified with 4 log10 IU/ml as the boundary) analyzed in 721 cases were correlated with the relevant clinical indicators stratification and liver pathological inflammation and fibrosis, and the difference was statistically significant (inflammation grade, χ2=6.182, P=0.013; Fibrosis grade, χ2=36.534, P=0.001). Univariate analysis of the relevant clinical indicators that may influence the patient's liver pathological G/S ≥2 showed the patient's age, albumin, γ- glutamyltransferase (GGT), platelet, prothrombin time (PT), spleen thickness and HBsAg level were all statistically significant ( P<0.05), while multivariate analysis showed that age, GGT, PT, and spleen thickness had statistical differences ( P<0.05). The prediction model was established in accordance to multivariate analysis, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.642. Maximization of the sum of sensitivity and specificity as cut-off value of Logit P=0.497, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and Youden's index were 60.6%, 64.5%, and 0.252, respectively. Conclusion:More than half of patients with chronic hepatitis B with normal ALT have significant inflammation and fibrosis and require timely antiviral therapy. Age, GGT, PT and spleen thickness can help comprehensively evaluate the liver inflammation and fibrosis status among patients, but the lack of accurate prediction models suggests that more effective indicators that can help predict the inflammation and fibrosis status of such patients have yet to be discovered. Therefore, liver biopsy should still be actively performed in patients with normal ALT to confirm the diagnosis and timely treatment.

Objective:To analyze the liver pathological characteristics of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and negative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), and to evaluate the diagnostic value of different serological models for liver fibrosis.Methods:Retrospective analysis was conducted on the patients with HBeAg-negative CHB who had normal ALT and underwent liver biopsy from August 2016 to December 2019 in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Henan Provincial People′s Hospital. The clinical data, serum indicators of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HBV DNA were collected. The liver fibrosis stages (S) was assessed by pathological examination. The diagnostic efficacies of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR), fibrosis 4 score (FIB-4), S index, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to albumin ratio (γ-GT/ALB) for liver pathological fibrosis were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic curves. Two variable correlation test was used to explore the relationship between the different models and pathological fibrosis of liver tissue. Chi-square test was used for statistical comparison.Results:The age of 448 patients was (37.98±9.82) years, and the male to female ratio was 1.286 ∶1. The proportions of S≥2 in patients with age>30 years, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)<2 000 IU/mL and HBV DNA≥2 000 IU/mL were higher than those in patients with age ≤30 years, HBsAg ≥2 000 IU/mL and HBV DNA<2 000 IU/mL, respectively, and the differences were all statistically significant ( χ2=7.68, P=0.006; χ2=11.44, P=0.001; χ2=9.12, P=0.003, respectively). There were 250 cases with pathological fibrosis stage S<2, 162 cases with S=2 and 36 cases with S≥3. FIB-4 (correlation coefficient 0.250), APRI (correlation coefficient 0.218), GPR (correlation coefficient 0.186), S index (correlation coefficient 0.184) and γ-GT/ALB (correlation coefficient 0.127) were positively correlated with the severity of liver fibrosis (all P<0.050). S index had the highest sensitivity (64.1%) in the diagnosis of significant liver fibrosis (S≥2), while γ-GT/ALB had the highest specificity (80.8%). In the diagnosis of severe liver fibrosis (S≥3), γ-GT/ALB had the highest sensitivity (77.8%), while APRI had the highest specificity (78.6%). Conclusions:The incidence of liver fibrosis in CHB patients with normal ALT and negative HBeAg is relatively high. The current serological diagnostic models are not suitable for the evaluation of liver fibrosis in these patients, and timely liver puncture is still necessary.

Objective:To investigate the changes of bone mineral density and its related influencing factors in chronic hepatitis B patients treated with long-term entecavir monotherapy.Methods:211 cases with chronic hepatitis B treated with entecavir monotherapy in the Department of Infectious Diseases of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital from June 2018 to September 2019 were retrospectively collected. Age, gender, body mass index, number of years of medication use, presence or absence of liver cirrhosis and current bone mineral density level (using dual-energy X-ray detection, taking lumbar L1 ~ 4 and left femur as observation region) and other related data were collected. 211 cases general situation was descriptively analyzed by case-control study design. Two independent sample t-tests were used to compare the differences in serum calcium, phosphorus, and renal function levels in patients with different medication durations. Univariate logistic regression was used to screen the influencing factors of bone mineral density level. Significant variables of univariate analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression to obtain the independent influencing factors leading to the decrease of bone mineral density level. The test level was set as α = 0.05.Results:The average age of 211 cases with chronic hepatitis B was (42.36 ± 11.10) years. The average medication time use was (2.52 ± 1.94) years. The body mass index (23.95 ± 3.11), and male-to-female ratio was 2.25/1. The incidence of liver cirrhosis was 35.5%. The incidence of low bone mass in the two observation sites (lumbar spine L1~4 and left femur) was 24.6% and 29.4%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in serum calcium, phosphorus and renal function levels among patients with different entecavir treatment duration (≥3 years and < 3 years) ( P < 0.05). Univariate analysis result showed that the influencing factors of BMD were age, the number of years of medication use, gender, liver cirrhosis (L1~4 of the lumbar spine region) and age, the number of years of medication, and gender (left femoral region). The variables that entered the two models after the multivariate analysis were age (L1~4 region of lumbar spine: OR = 2.225, left femur OR = 1.660), gender (L1~4 region of lumbar spine: OR = 3.048, left femur OR = 2.496), number of years of medication use (L1~4 region of lumbar spine: OR = 1.387, left femur OR = 1.276). Conclusion:Age, gender, and the number of years of medication use are independent factors that influence the bone mineral density of patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with long-term entecavir. Low bone mass risk at the two observation sites is 2.225 and 1.66 times the normal level for every 10 years of age increase. Compared with men, the risk of low bone mass at the two observation sites is 3.048 and 2.496 times for women, and for every additional year of medication use, the risk of low bone mass at the two observation sites is 1.387 and 1.276 times the normal level. Female patients with older age and prolonged medication use are at high risk of developing bone mineral density reduction.

Objective:To screen the differential proteomic of plasma exosomes before and after magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (MgIG) treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients.Methods:Plasma samples were collected from 36 cases with chronic hepatitis B before and after MgIG treatment (2 ml/case). Plasma exosomes were extracted by ultracentrifugation. Exosomal particles concentration and inner diameter were detected by Nanosight NS300 particle size analyzer. Three cases of plasma exosomes were randomly selected before and after MgIG treatment. Proteins were extracted after lysis and digested with trypsin. Label-free differential proteomics analysis was performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to screen out differential proteins that changed more than 1.5 times. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to verify the quantitative differential protein expression ( n = 30). Measurement data were compared by paired sample t-test. Results:The average particle concentration of the extracted exosomes was 2.2×10 9/ml, and the average size was (107 ± 52) nm, which was consistent with the theoretical value of plasma exosome size, proving that the plasma exosomes were successfully extracted. Proteomics results showed that before and after MgIG treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients, a total of 153 differentially expressed proteins were screened, including 85 up-regulated and 68 down-regulated proteins. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results showed that compared with the MgIG before and after treatment group of chronic hepatitis B patients, the differences in the concentrations of hepatocyte growth factor activator and hepatocyte growth factor like protein in plasma exosomes were statistically significant ( P < 0.05). Hepatocyte growth factor activator concentration in the plasma exosomes before and after MgIG treatment group was (45.9 ± 9.4) μg/ml and (13.9 ± 2.0) μg/ml, respectively, and it was down-regulated by about 3 times. Hepatocyte growth factor-like protein concentration in the plasma exosomes before and after MgIG treatment group was (23.4 ± 4.9) μg/ml and (13.8 ± 2.2) μg/ml, respectively, and it was down-regulated by about 2 times. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay results had consistency with the proteomics results. Conclusion:This study successfully screened the differential proteomic of plasma exosomes before and after MgIG treatment in chronic hepatitis B, and provided experimental basis for studying the molecular mechanism of MgIG treatment for chronic hepatitis B.

Liver cancer prevention has always been a key issue in the follow-up diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis. Insidious onset, high morbidity, monotherapy, short survival time, and high mortality are the outstanding problems encountered in the diagnosis and treatment of advanced liver cancer. In recent years, with the clinical application of targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors, phased progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of advanced liver cancer, especially the accessibility of drug prices under the new medical insurance has provided more and more patients the opportunity to achieve a longer survival time. In this paper, the hot issues in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with advanced liver cancer in the immunotherapy era are discussed.

Objective To investigate whether there are differences in lymphocyte subsets between chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients receiving different antiviral treatment regimens, and to determine related predictive factors for HBsAg decline. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for 68 treatment-experienced CHB patients who attended the outpatient service in Department of Infectious Diseases, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, from October to December 2019, and according to the antiviral treatment regimen, they were divided into PEG-IFNα treatment group with 10 patients, PEG-IFNα+nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) treatment group with 21 patients, and NAs treatment group with 37 patients. Related data were recorded, including demographic features, blood routine, albumin, HBsAg, and measurement of lymphocyte subsets. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups; the multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate independent influencing factors for HBsAg decline. Results There were significant differences between the three groups in HBsAg decline ( H =8.348, P =0.015), absolute value of lymphocytes ( F =4.643, P =0.013), and T lymphocyte count ( F =7.721, P =0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sex (odds ratio [ OR ]=0.227, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 0.059-0.878, P =0.032), age ( OR =0.931, 95% CI : 0.868-0.999, P =0.047), antiviral treatment regimen (PEG-IFN-α treatment group vs NAs treatment group: OR =9.600, 95% CI : 1.982-46.498, P =0.005; PEG-IFN-α+NAs treatment group vs NAs treatment group: OR =4.800, 95% CI : 1.336-17.243, P =0.016), and T lymphocyte count ( OR =0.804, 95% CI : 0.684-0.944, P =0.008) were independent influencing factors for HBsAg decline. Conclusion For CHB patients receiving PEG-IFNα alone or in combination with NAs, monitoring of lymphocyte subsets during the treatment process may help to judge HBsAg decline, and the lower the absolute value of T lymphocytes, the greater the possibility of HBsAg decline.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of elbasvir/grazoprevir (EBR/GZR) in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in the real-world.Methods:This was an open-label, single-center, retrospective real-world study. A total of 103 genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients who were treated with EBR/GZR in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from May 2018 to October 2019 were enrolled.And the clinical baseline characteristics of patients and the effectiveness and safety of antiviral therapy were respectively evaluated.Results:A total of 103 patients were enrolled in the study with an age of (47.6±13.9) years. Fifty-five (53.4%) patients were male and 48(46.6%) were female. One point nine percent (2/103) patients were genotype 1a hepatitis C and 98.1%(101/103) were genotype 1b hepatitis C. Seventeen genotype 1b hepatitis C patients were previously treated with interferon, and three patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Among the 103 cases, 35 had underlying diseases and 26 had combined medication. Ninty-eight cases completed 12-week treatment and 89 cases completed 12-week follow-up after treatment.Overall, 89 cases achieved sustained virological response. The overall incidence of adverse reactions was 20.4%(21/103), and the main adverse reactions were fatigue, insomnia and anxiety. No serious adverse event occurred. The three patients with HBV co-infection had no hepatitis B activation after treatment.Conclusion:EBR/GZR is effective and safe in the patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in China.

Objective:To evaluate the short-term prognostic value of model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) combined with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF).Methods:From December 2015 to December 2018, 182 patients with HBV-ACLF who were treated in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital were included. Prognosis and clinical data including HDL-C, total bilirubin, international standardized ratio (INR), creatinine of patients within 24 hours after admission were collected and analyzed retrospectively.The values of MELD were calculated. The binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting 90-day mortality in HBV-ACLF patients.The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) and MedCalc 15.2 software were used to assess the predictive value of MELD, HDL-C and MELD-HDL-C model for prognosis. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was performed to analyze the prognosis of patients in different groups.Results:Sixty patients were divided into the death group and 122 patients were divided into the survival group according to the prognosis during hospitalization and 90 days after discharge. The MELD score of patients in the survival group was 21(19, 24), which was significantly lower than that in the death group (29(25, 34)), and the HDL-C value of patients in the survival group was significantly higher than that in the death group (0.3 (0.1, 0.6) mmol/L vs 0.2(0.1, 0.5) mmol/L). The differences were both statistically significant ( Z=-6.290 and -4.087, respectively, both P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that MELD score and HDL-C value were the independent risk factors for 90-day mortality in patients with HBV-ACLF(odds ratio ( OR)=1.432, 95% confidence interval ( CI)1.271-1.613; OR=0.584, 95% CI 0.487-0.700, respectively; both P<0.01). Areas under the ROC of MELD, HDL-C and MELD-HDL-C scoring models were 0.775, 0.782 and 0.878, respectively. MELD-HDL-C scoring model was superior to both MELD and HDL-C , and the differences were both statistically significant ( Z=3.944 and 3.104, respectively, both P<0.01). When the MELD-HDL-C Youden′s index was set at 0.72, the optimal threshold was 24.69. Patients with MELD-HDL-C score≥24.69 had lower survival rate than patients with MELD-HDL-C score<24.69, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=142.900, P<0.01). Conclusion:MELD, HDL-C and MELD-HDL-C scoring systems could predict the short-term prognosis in patients with HBV-ACLF, and the predictive value of MELD-HDL-C has the superiority.