Objective: To probe into the correlation between chronic liver disease and intestinal barrier function. Methods: 1 491 cases of hospitalized patients were enrolled, of which 741 cases were of chronic liver diseases, including 397 cases of fatty liver diseases, 230 cases of chronic hepatitis, 114 cases of liver cirrhosis, and 750 cases of non-hepatic diseases. All admitted patients’ intestinal barrier function like diamine oxidase (DAO), D-lactate, lipopolysaccharide, and biochemical indicators of liver functions were tested. According to different data, statistical analysis was done using t-test, ANOVA, Dunnett’s test, χ ² test of fourfold table, Pearson’s correlation, and binary logistic regression. Results: The intestinal barrier dysfunction was more likely to occur in the chronic liver disease group than that of non-hepatic disease group [54.15% (379/741) vs. 18.53% (139/750), χ ² = 193.58, P < 0.001]. The correlation analysis between biochemical indicators of liver function and intestinal barrier function in chronic liver disease group showed that alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), and total bilirubin levels were more susceptible to intestinal barrier dysfunction than those with normal indexes (P < 0.05 ). GGT had stimulated DAO (P < 0.05, OR > 1), D-lactate (P < 0.05, OR > 1), lipopolysaccharide (P < 0.05, OR > 1), ALT and AST. Conclusion Chronic liver disease increases with damage to intestinal barrier function.

Objective To explore the association of synovial fluid vasoactive intestinal peptide levels with cartilage damage,radiological changes and symptomatic severity in patients with ankle post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Methods 74 patients with ankle traumatic osteoarthritis undergoing ankle anthroscopic debridement or joint replacement and 69 healthy controls receiving body check were enrolled in the this study. Serum and synovial fluid VIP concentrations were measured by a special radioimmunoassay method. Cartilage degradation biomarker colla-gen type Ⅱ(CTX-II)and inflammatory marker interleukin-6 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The symptomatic and functional severity was evaluated using Teeny & Wiss and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot rating scale. The radiographic progression of PTAOA was identified according to the modified ankle osteoar-thritis Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grading system. The mankin score was used for assessing the histopathological severity for cartilage lesions. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was conducted and the area under curve(AUC)was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of VIP,IL-6 and CTX-II levels for the prediction of the modified K-L grading by comparing with other biomarkers. Results There were no significant differences in serum VIP levels between PTAOA patients and controls. VIP levels in synovial fluid showed a negative correlation with modified ankle K-L grading,Mankin scores,CTX-Ⅱand IL-6. In addition,VIP levels were also positively associated with Teeny&Wiss and AOFAS ankle-hindfoot scores. The AUC area of VIP was similar to CTX-Ⅱat early stage of the disease. Conclusions Synovial fluid VIP levels show an independent and negative correlation with disease severity in patients with PTAOA. Low level of VIP in SF can be used as a potential biomarker for reflecting disease progression.