Environmental toxicants have been linked to aging and age-related diseases. The emerging evidence has shown that the enhancement of detoxification gene expression is a common transcriptome marker of long-lived mice, Drosophila melanogaster, and Caenorhabditis elegans. Meanwhile, the resistance to toxicants was increased in long-lived animals. Here, we show that farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist obeticholic acid (OCA), a marketed drug for the treatment of cholestasis, may extend the lifespan and healthspan both in C. elegans and chemical-induced early senescent mice. Furthermore, OCA increased the resistance of worms to toxicants and activated the expression of detoxification genes in both mice and C. elegans. The longevity effects of OCA were attenuated in Fxr ^-/- mice and Fxr homologous nhr-8 and daf-12 mutant C. elegans. In addition, metabolome analysis revealed that OCA increased the endogenous agonist levels of the pregnane X receptor (PXR), a major nuclear receptor for detoxification regulation, in the liver of mice. Together, our findings suggest that OCA has the potential to lengthen lifespan and healthspan by activating nuclear receptor-mediated detoxification functions, thus, targeting FXR may offer to promote longevity.

Background/Aims: Treatment indications for patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remain contentious, particularly for patients with mild alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation. We aimed to evaluate treatment effects in this patient population. Methods: This rollover study extended a placebo-controlled trial that enrolled non-cirrhotic patients with CHB and ALT levels below two times the upper limit of normal. Following 3 years of randomized intervention with either tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) or placebo, participants were rolled over to open-label TDF for 3 years. Liver biopsies were performed before and after the treatment to evaluate histopathological changes. Virological, biochemical, and serological outcomes were also assessed (NCT02463019). Results: Of 146 enrolled patients (median age 47 years, 80.8% male), 123 completed the study with paired biopsies. Overall, the Ishak fibrosis score decreased in 74 (60.2%), remained unchanged in 32 (26.0%), and increased in 17 (13.8%) patients (p<0.0001). The Knodell necroinflammation score decreased in 58 (47.2%), remained unchanged in 29 (23.6%), and increased in 36 (29.3%) patients (p=0.0038). The proportion of patients with an Ishak score ≥ 3 significantly decreased from 26.8% (n=33) to 9.8% (n=12) (p=0.0002). Histological improvements were more pronounced in patients switching from placebo. Virological and biochemical outcomes also improved in placebo switchers and remained stable in patients who continued TDF. However, serum HBsAg levels did not change and no patient cleared HBsAg. Conclusions In CHB patients with minimally raised ALT, favorable histopathological, biochemical, and virological outcomes were observed following 3-year TDF treatment, for both treatment-naïve patients and those already on therapy.

Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) is a condition characterized by a mechanical obstruction of the stomach or duodenum, caused by either benign or malignant disease. Traditionally, surgical gastrojejunostomy (SGJ) has been the standard treatment for malignant GOO and endoscopic stenting (ES) offers a less invasive option, but it often requires repeat interventions. Recently, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided gastroenterostomy (EUS-GE), an innovative technique, has been applied as an alternative to SGJ and ES for GOO patients. Direct EUS-GE, device-associated EUS-GE, and EUS-guided double balloon-occluded gastrojejunostomy bypass are the most commonly used techniques with reported technical success rates ranging from 80% to 100%, and clinical success rates between 68% and 100%. Adverse event (AE) rates range from 0% to 28.2% and the stent misdeployment is the most common while other AEs include abdominal pain, bleeding, infection, peritonitis, bowel perforation, gastric leakage, and stent migration. It is clear that EUS-GE may achieve a similar clinical success to SGJ with fewer AEs and a shorter hospital stay. Compared to ES, EUS-GE showed higher clinical success, fewer stent obstructions, and lower reintervention rates.

Purpose: This study assessed the performance of the ultrasound-guided attenuation parameter (UGAP) in diagnosing and grading hepatic steatosis in patients with metabolic dysfunctionassociated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) served as the reference standard. Methods: Patients with hepatic steatosis were enrolled in this prospective study and underwent UGAP measurements. MRI-PDFF values of ≥5%, ≥15%, and ≥25% were used as references for the diagnosis of steatosis grades ≥S1, ≥S2, and S3, respectively. Spearman correlation coefficients and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated. Results: Between July 2023 and June 2024, the study included 88 patients (median age, 40 years; interquartile range [IQR], 36 to 46 years), of whom 54.5% (48/88) were men and 45.5% (40/88) were women. Steatosis grades exhibited the following distribution: 22.7% (20/88) had S0, 50.0% (44/88) had S1, 21.6% (19/88) had S2, and 5.7% (5/88) had S3. The success rate for UGAP measurements was 100%. The median UGAP value was 0.74 dB/cm/MHz (IQR, 0.65 to 0.82 dB/ cm/MHz), and UGAP values were positively correlated with MRI-PDFF (r=0.77, P<0.001). The AUCs of UGAP for the diagnoses of ≥S1, ≥S2, and S3 steatosis were 0.91, 0.90, and 0.88, respectively. In the subgroup analysis, 98.4% (60/61) of patients had valid controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) values. UGAP measurements were positively correlated with CAP values (r=0.65, P<0.001). Conclusion Using MRI-PDFF as the reference standard, UGAP demonstrates good diagnostic performance in the detection and grading of hepatic steatosis in patients with MASLD.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the contrast-enhanced ultrasound with Sonazoid (Sonazoid-CEUS) features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: In this retrospective study, patients who underwent surgical resection and were histopathologically diagnosed with NAFLD or cirrhosis-related HCC were included. All patients received Sonazoid-CEUS examinations within 1 week prior to hepatic surgery. The enhancement patterns of HCC lesions were evaluated and compared between the two groups according to the current World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology guidelines. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the correlations between Sonazoid-CEUS enhancement patterns and clinicopathologic characteristics. Results: From March 2022 to April 2023, a total of 151 patients with HCC were included, comprising 72 with NAFLD-related HCC and 79 with hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis–related HCC. On Sonazoid-CEUS, more than half of the NAFLD-related HCCs exhibited relatively early and mild washout within 60 seconds (54.2%, 39/72), whereas most HBV cirrhosis–related HCCs displayed washout between 60 and 120 seconds (46.8%, 37/79) or after 120 seconds (39.2%, 31/79) (P<0.001). In the patients with NAFLD-related HCC, multivariate analysis revealed that international normalized ratio (odds ratio [OR], 0.002; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.000 to 0.899; P=0.046) and poor tumor differentiation (OR, 21.930; 95% CI, 1.960 to 245.319; P=0.012) were significantly associated with washout occurring within 60 seconds. Conclusion Characteristic Sonazoid-CEUS features are useful for diagnosing HCC in patients with NAFLD.

Purpose: This study assessed the performance of the ultrasound-guided attenuation parameter (UGAP) in diagnosing and grading hepatic steatosis in patients with metabolic dysfunctionassociated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) served as the reference standard. Methods: Patients with hepatic steatosis were enrolled in this prospective study and underwent UGAP measurements. MRI-PDFF values of ≥5%, ≥15%, and ≥25% were used as references for the diagnosis of steatosis grades ≥S1, ≥S2, and S3, respectively. Spearman correlation coefficients and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated. Results: Between July 2023 and June 2024, the study included 88 patients (median age, 40 years; interquartile range [IQR], 36 to 46 years), of whom 54.5% (48/88) were men and 45.5% (40/88) were women. Steatosis grades exhibited the following distribution: 22.7% (20/88) had S0, 50.0% (44/88) had S1, 21.6% (19/88) had S2, and 5.7% (5/88) had S3. The success rate for UGAP measurements was 100%. The median UGAP value was 0.74 dB/cm/MHz (IQR, 0.65 to 0.82 dB/ cm/MHz), and UGAP values were positively correlated with MRI-PDFF (r=0.77, P<0.001). The AUCs of UGAP for the diagnoses of ≥S1, ≥S2, and S3 steatosis were 0.91, 0.90, and 0.88, respectively. In the subgroup analysis, 98.4% (60/61) of patients had valid controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) values. UGAP measurements were positively correlated with CAP values (r=0.65, P<0.001). Conclusion Using MRI-PDFF as the reference standard, UGAP demonstrates good diagnostic performance in the detection and grading of hepatic steatosis in patients with MASLD.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the contrast-enhanced ultrasound with Sonazoid (Sonazoid-CEUS) features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: In this retrospective study, patients who underwent surgical resection and were histopathologically diagnosed with NAFLD or cirrhosis-related HCC were included. All patients received Sonazoid-CEUS examinations within 1 week prior to hepatic surgery. The enhancement patterns of HCC lesions were evaluated and compared between the two groups according to the current World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology guidelines. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the correlations between Sonazoid-CEUS enhancement patterns and clinicopathologic characteristics. Results: From March 2022 to April 2023, a total of 151 patients with HCC were included, comprising 72 with NAFLD-related HCC and 79 with hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis–related HCC. On Sonazoid-CEUS, more than half of the NAFLD-related HCCs exhibited relatively early and mild washout within 60 seconds (54.2%, 39/72), whereas most HBV cirrhosis–related HCCs displayed washout between 60 and 120 seconds (46.8%, 37/79) or after 120 seconds (39.2%, 31/79) (P<0.001). In the patients with NAFLD-related HCC, multivariate analysis revealed that international normalized ratio (odds ratio [OR], 0.002; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.000 to 0.899; P=0.046) and poor tumor differentiation (OR, 21.930; 95% CI, 1.960 to 245.319; P=0.012) were significantly associated with washout occurring within 60 seconds. Conclusion Characteristic Sonazoid-CEUS features are useful for diagnosing HCC in patients with NAFLD.

Objective:To investigate the value of ultra micro angiography（UMA）imaging in evaluating the inflammation activity of pediatric Crohn's disease（CD）patients.Methods:In this prospective study，71 pediatric CD patients confirmed by clinical symptoms，laboratory and ileocolonoscopical results who planed to accept infliximab injection treatments in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from April to December 2024 were included. The CD patients were included and divided into 3 groups according to the pediatric Crohn's disease activity index（PCDAI）score：inactive CD group（ n=44），mild CD group（ n=17），and moderate-to-severe CD group（ n=10）. Before treatment，pediatric CD patients underwent B mode ultrasound（BMUS），the parameters such as bowel wall thickness（BWT），bowel wall stratification，mesenteric lymph nodes（MLNs），and existence of mesenteric fat hypertrophy（MFH）were recorded. Color Doppler flow imaging（CDFI）and UMA were used to evaluate the blood flow in the most thickened diseased bowel wall using Limberg scores. The diffierences of the above parameters among the 3 groups were compared. The diagnostic performance of UMA and CDFI in assessing the inflammatory activity of pediatric CD was evaluated. Results:There were statistically significant differences in BWT among the 3 groups（all P<0.05）. However，there were no statistically significant differences in MLNs among the 3 groups（all P>0.05）. Compared with the inactive CD，there were statistically significant differences in bowel wall stratification and MFH in both the mild and moderate-to-severe CD groups（all P<0.05）. When assessing bowel wall blood flow signals using CDFI，there was no statistically significant difference in blood flow signals in the bowel wall of the mild CD compared with the inactive CD（ P>0.05）. However，the blood flow signals in the bowel wall of the moderate-to-severe CD was significantly increased（ P<0.05）. There was also statistically significant difference in blood flow signals in the bowel wall between the mild and moderate-to-severe CD groups（ P<0.05）. When assessing bowel wall blood flow using UMA，there were statistically significant differences in blood flow signals in the bowel wall among all 3 groups（all P<0.05）. As the degree of inflammation increased，the blood flow signals in the bowel wall also increased significantly. ROC analysis revealed that diagnostic performance of the UMA-BMUS model was significantly better than that of the CDFI-BMUS model（AUC 0.945 vs. 0.873，sensitivity 88.9% vs. 74.1%，specificity 97.7% vs. 95.5%；all P<0.05）. Conclusions:By sensitively depicting the low-velocity and tiny blood flow signals of the inflamed bowel wall，UMA is an effective noninvasive imaging method to make semi-quantitative evaluation of the activity of pediatric Crohn's disease.

AIM To study the chemical constituents from the water fraction of rhizoma of Smilax trinervula Miq.and their biological activities.METHODS Polyamide,silica gel,Sephadex LH-20,ODS and semi-preparative HPLC were used for isolation and purification,then the structures of obtained compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data.The antitumor activities were determined by MTT mothod,and the inhibitory activities on α-glucosidase were determined by PNPG method.RESULTS Eleven compounds were isolated and identified as tyrosine(1),uridine(2),2-(2',3',4'-trihydroxybutyl)-6-(2",3",4"-trihydroxybutyl)-pyrazine(3),2-(1',2',3',4'-tetrahydroxybutyl)-6-(2",3",4"-trihydroxybutyl)-pyrazine(4),2-(1',2',3',4'-tetrahydroxybutyl)-5-(2",3",4"-trihydroxybutyl)-pyrazine(5),uracil(6),2-(1',2',3',4'-tetrahydroxybutyl)-5-(1",2",3",4"-tetrahydroxybutyl)-pyrazine(7),dioscin(8),shikimic acid(9),pyrazine(10),3,4-dihydroxyphenyethyl alcohol 8-O-β-D-glycopyranoside(11).The IC50 values of compounds 8 to human breast cancer cell MCF-7 was(2.36±0.26)μg/mL,and the IC50 values of compounds 3-5 and 7 to α-glucosidase were(1.54±0.15)-(10.53±0.38)μg/mL.CONCLUSION Compounds 1-7,10 are isolated from Smilax genus for the first time,and compound 9,11 are first isolated from this plant.Compound 8 has anti-tumor activity,and compounds 3-5,7 have α-glucosidase inhibitory activities.

Objective:To investigate and evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of a modified anterior approach for transpupillary silicone oil removal combined with phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation.Methods:A retrospective case-control study. A total of 148 patients (148 eyes) who underwent silicone oil removal combined with cataract surgery at the Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between January 2020 and November 2024 were included in the study. All affected eyes underwent preoperative examinations including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, corneal topography, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Based on the method of silicone oil removal, the eyes were divided into two groups: group A (modified anterior approach transpupillary silicone oil removal combined with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation, 99 eyes) and group B (standard pars plana vitrectomy for silicone oil removal combined with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation, 49 eyes). The surgical duration, changes in BCVA and intraocular pressure at 1 day, 7 days, and 1 month postoperatively, as well as the incidence of complications such as corneal edema and its resolution, conjunctival congestion, iris prolapse, posterior capsule rupture, nucleus drop, IOL position, residual silicone oil in the vitreous cavity or anterior chamber, vitreous hemorrhage, recurrent retinal detachment (RD), and choroidal detachment or hemorrhage, were compared between the two groups. The independent sample t-test was used for the comparison of measurement data between the two groups, and the χ2 test was used for the comparison of count data. Results:The operation time of group A and group B was (17.01±1.28) min and (31.62±2.32) min, respectively. The operation time of group A was significantly shorter than that of group B, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=?41.002, P<0.001). The comparison of BCVA ( t =?0.561, ?0.833, ?1.386) and IOP ( t=?0.055, 1.375, ?0.507) between the two groups of affected eyes before surgery and at 1 day and 7 days after surgery showed no statistically significant differences ( P>0.05). There was no silicone oil residual in group A, while 3 eyes in group B were observed with silicone oil residual (6.1%, 3/49). Neovascular glaucoma was observed in one eye. Compared to group A, group B exhibited a statistically significant increase in the incidence of postoperative conjunctival congestion, silicone oil retention, and posterior capsular opacification ( χ2=10.600, 6.187, 92.617; P<0.05). In contrast, no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in the incidence of corneal edema or recurrent retinal detachment (RD) ( χ2=0.272, 1.557; P>0.05). No intraoperative complications, such as iris prolapse, posterior capsular rupture, nucleus drop, zonular dehiscence, choroidal detachment, or hemorrhage, occurred in any of the operated eyes. Furthermore, no postoperative complications, including corneal endothelial decompensation, IOL displacement, or endophthalmitis, were observed during the follow-up period. Conclusion:Compared to the conventional pars plana approach for silicone oil removal combined with cataract surgery, the modified anterior perfusion transpupillary approach demonstrated significantly shorter surgical duration and a reduced incidence of postoperative complications.