Objective To explore whether the polymorphisms within the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-?) and TNF-? gene are associated with the clinical types of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Methods By using a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products, the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within TNF-? and TNF-? gene among 56 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B and 71 patients with chronic mild hepatitis B or asymptomatic carriers as well as 90 healthy controls were analyzed. The TNF-? concentration of serum in 56 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B and 30 healthy controls were determined by radio immunity assay (RIA). Results The frequencies of the TNF1/2 genotype and the TNF2 allele were significantly increased in patients with chronic severe hepatitis compared with healthy controls (25% vs 11.1%,P=0.028;12.5% vs 5.6%,P=0.036) and patients with chronic mild hepatitis B and asymptomatic carriers (25% vs 8.5%,P=0.011;12.5% vs 4.2%,P=0.015). Furthermore, heterozygotes carrying TNF2 allele had significantly higher levels of serum TNF-? than homozygotes for the wild type allele among all patients with chronic severe hepatitis B (P

Objective To investigate clinical features and antifungal therapeutic effect of chronic severe hepatitis (CSH) patients with invasive fungal infection (IFI), and to improve the diagnosis and treatment.Methods Clinical manifestation, blood routine, imageology and mycetology characteristic, antifungal treatment perscription and therapeutic effect of 79 CSH patients with IFI were retrospectively analyzed. Antifungal therapeutic effect was compared between fluconazole and voriconazole. Results Thirteen (16.5%) patients received glucocorticoid or other immunodepressants for a relatively long time, 40 (50.6%) patients had invasive operation, and 61 (77.2 %) patients were administered 1-6 kinds of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Seventy-three patients had fever. Leucocytes and neutrophilic granulocyte increased in 96.2% of the patients. Lung (31.6%), intestinal tract (26.2%) and oral cavity (14%) infections were common. Fungus was found in 70.9% of the patients. Candida albicans (40.9%) and aspergillus (21.1%) were often seen. Halo signs and crescent signs on lung CT were relatively specific in 40% of the patients with fungal pneumonia. Voriconazole was more effective than fluconazole(71.4% vs. 39.0%, P<0.05). Twelve patients with lung aspergillus infection were administered voriconazole, 8 (66.7%) patients of whom was effective, and the other 4 (33.3%) patients died. Conclusion There are high risk factors in major CSH patients with IFI. The most common clinical manifestations of CSH patients with IFI are fever, leukocytosis, lung and intestinal tract infection. Candida albicans and aspergillus infection are common. Voriconazole is more effective than fluconazole, and can increase the survival rate of CSH patients with IFI.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the mid-term prognostic value of procalcitonin (PCT), endotoxin and common inflammatory markers combining the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score in patients with chronic severe hepatitis. METHODS: A total of 124 chronic severe hepatitis patients were enrolled, who were hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from May 2011 to December 2011. Indexes of inflammation, liver and kidney function tests and MELD were determined within 24 h after the admission, and blood samples were collected for measurement of endotoxin , procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactin protein (CRP). The outcome was confirmed after discharge follow-up at the end of the 3rd month. According to the outcome, the 124 patients were divided into a survival group (n=58) and a death group(n=66). RESULTS: 1) Of the 124 patients, 66 died and 58 survived, with statistical difference in age, MELD score, white blood cell (WBC), polymorphonuclear (PMN), CRP and PCT by single factor analysis between the 2 groups(P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that age, MELD scores and PCT were highly correlated with the outcome (OR=1.07, 1.42 and 1.02 respectively, P<0.05), which could be used to predict the 3 month mid-term mortality of chronic severe hepatitis. 2)There was significant correlation between the MELD scores and the mid-term mortality. Age was positively correlated with the MELD score, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.21 (P<0.05). PCT was also positively correlated with the MELD, and Spearman's correlation coefficient was 0.54 (P<0.01). 3)According to the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve analysis , the area under the curve (AUC) of MELD score and PCT were 0.91 and 0.77 respectively, higher than those of other indexes (P<0.01). When the MELD score was up to 30.09 or higher, the predicted mortality risk among these tested patients was the highest(82.26%). The mortality risk predicted by PCT combining MELD score and PCT alone was lower than by MELD score alone (75.00%), but the specificity of MELD score combining PCT was 100%, and the positive prediction value was 1.00. CONCLUSION Endotoxin and common inflammatory markers (WBC, PMN, and CRP) are not reliable indicators to predict the prognosis in patients with chronic-severe hepatitis. MELD score is significantly correlated with the outcome of mid-term chronic severe hepatitis, PCT and age are both positively correlated with the MELD score. PCT and age combining MELD score can be used to predict the 3 month mid-term mortality of chronic severe hepatitis. MELD score has better prognostic value than PCT. MELD score combining PCT can improve the specificity of prediction.
Adult ; Age Factors ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Calcitonin ; blood ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; End Stage Liver Disease ; diagnosis ; mortality ; Endotoxins ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; diagnosis ; mortality ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; Protein Precursors ; blood ; ROC Curve ; Severity of Illness Index ; Survival Analysis

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of different immune status on the incidence of hepatic lesions in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection undergoing anti-tuberculosis therapy.

METHODSThe PubMed (1966-2013), Embase (1966-2013), Wanfang (1998-2013), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI; 1997-2013), and Chinese Biomedical (CBMdisc; 1860-2013) literature databases were searched for case-control studies of hepatic lesions in patients undergoing anti-tuberculosis therapy with or without concomitant HBV infection. The HBV patients were divided into subgroups according to hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positivity or negativity, all members of the control group were HBsAg⁻. The data from all 7 studies included in the meta-analysis were extracted and analysed using RevMan5.2 soft-ware.

RESULTSPatients with HBV infection who were undergoing anti-tuberculosis therapy had a higher risk factor than the control patients (OR =5.81, 95% CI =[4.26, 7.39]). The HBV patients with HBeAg positivity who were undergoing anti-tuberculosis therapy had a high risk factor than the HBV patients with HBeAg negativity (OR =2.56, 95% CI=[1.90, 3.44]).

CONCLUSIONHBV infection is a risk factor for hepatic lesions when undergoing anti-tuberculosis therapy, and HBeAg-positive status may put a patient at higher risk.

Antitubercular Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B ; complications ; pathology ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects ; pathology ; Tuberculosis ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology