In August 2023， the European Society for Organ Transplantation （ESOT） published the ESOT Consensus Statement on Biomarkers in Liver Transplantation online. The consensus statement focuses on biomarkers in liver transplantation， clinical applicability， and future needs and explores the role of new biomarkers in predicting liver transplantation outcomes by reviewing the literature on primary disease recurrence， development of chronic kidney disease （CKD）， and safe weaning of immunosuppression. This consensus statement conducts studies from the four aspects of recurrent liver disease after liver transplantation， recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma， weaning of immunosuppression， and CKD progression， emphasizes the importance of biomarkers in predicting or detecting disease recurrence， and proposes that large-scale prospective studies are still needed to improve the quality of evidence. The author’s team gives an excerpt of the consensus statement and systematically introduces the four aspects of the consensus statement and related discussions and conclusions， in order to provide more evidence-based medical evidence for identifying and exploring new biomarkers for liver transplantation.

Objective:To analyze the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) attributed to low physical activity (LPA) and its changing trends in China from 1990 to 2019.Methods:On the basis of the province results of the Study of Global Burden of Disease 2019 in China, we described the distribution of CVD death and disability-adjusted life year (DALY) attributed to LPA by sex, age and province. Joinpoint 4.9.1.0 was used to calculate the average annual percentage change.Results:In 2019, the number of CVD deaths and DALY attributed to LPA in people aged ≥25 years were 0.127 million and 1.863 million person-years in China, respectively, The age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and standardized DALY rate of CVD attributed to LPA were slightly higher in men than in women, and much higher in ischemic heart disease patients than in ischemic stroke patients. The ASMR (8.85/100 000) and the standardized DALY rate (112.34/100 000) of CVD attributed to LPA in China in 2019 showed no obvious change compared with 1990, while decreased in the last decade. The largest increases in the mortality rate and DALY rate were observed in people aged ≥75 years from 1990 to 2019 (26.89%, 15.61%), but the mortality rate and DALY rate in people aged 60-74 years showed a decreasing trend. The mortality rate and DALY rate in men aged 25- 44 years showed the largest increases (37.50%, 35.49%), while women aged ≥75 years had the largest increases (31.00%, 18.02%). In 2019, the highest ASMR and standardized DALY rate of CVD attributed to LPA were found in Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Hebei. The largest increases were found in Qinghai (182.41%, 154.70%), Gansu (181.29%, 152.77%), and Chongqing (132.01%, 102.79%) and the largest decreases were found in Beijing (59.11%, 62.09%), Macau (41.89%, 39.37%) and Guangdong (36.93%, 40.72%) from 1990 to 2019.Conclusion:The disease burden of CVD attributed to LPA in China was quite high and showed gender, age and area specific differences.

Objective: To investigate the association between high normal blood pressure, hypertension and microalbuminuria (MAU), so as to provide the basis for early screening and prevention of renal injury caused by hypertension. Methods: A multi-stage cluster random sampling method was used to select permanent residents aged 18 to 75 years from six provinces including Hebei, Hunan, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Qinghai and Jiangxi from September to October 2021. Basic information and lifestyle behaviors were collected through questionnaires. Indices including height, weight and blood pressure were measured. Urinary microalbumin and creatinine were measured in 24-hour urine samples. The associations between high normal blood pressure, hypertension, and MAU were analyzed by using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 1 982 residents were surveyed, with 996 residents aged <50 years (50.25%) and 986 residents aged ≥50 years (49.75%). There were 958 males (48.34%) and 1 024 females (51.66%). Normal blood pressure was observed in 653 residents (32.95%), high normal blood pressure in 748 (37.74%) and hypertension in 581 (29.31%). MAU was detected in 164 participants, with a detection rate of 8.27%. The detection rates of MAU among residents with normal blood pressure, high normal blood pressure, and hypertension were 2.14%, 8.16% and 15.32%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for gender, age, educational level, smoking, alcohol consumption, regular exercise and body mass index, the residents with high normal blood pressure (OR=3.535, 95%CI: 1.898-6.585) and hypertension (OR=7.232, 95%CI: 3.808-13.732) had higher risks of MAU compared to those with normal blood pressure; the residents with hypertension (OR=1.914, 95%CI: 1.340-2.735) had a higher risk of MAU compared to those with high normal blood pressure. Conclusions High normal blood pressure and hypertension are associated with an increased risk of MAU.

Objective:To study the relationship between circulating inflammatory proteins and liver cancer by Mendelian randomization.Methods:Data from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 91 circulating inflammatory proteins were sourced from the GWAS Catalog, involving 14 824 participants of European ancestry from 11 cohorts. Summary statistics for liver cancer were obtained from the GWAS database, encompassing a total sample of 197 611 cases, a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between 91 circulating inflammatory proteins and liver cancer. Among them, inverse variance weighting, weighted median method, MR-Egger, simple mode, and weighted mode were the main analysis methods. Using odds ratio (OR) values to evaluate the causal relationship between them. Cochran Q-test, MR-PRESSO, MR-Egger intercept, and "leave-one-out" analyses were used for sensitivity analysis. Reverse MR, MR-Steiger tests were employed to rule out the influence of reverse causality.Results:Among the circulating 91 inflammatory proteins, C-C motif chemokine 20 ( OR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.01-1.62), CD40 receptor ( OR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.00-1.28), fibroblast growth factor 21 ( OR=1.47, 95% CI: 1.18-1.83), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor ( OR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.08-1.54), interleukin-13 (IL-13) ( OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.02-1.50), IL-20 levels ( OR=1.78, 95% CI: 1.30-2.44), IL-20 receptor subunit alpha ( OR=1.43, 95% CI: 1.06-1.93), and matrix metalloproteinase-10 ( OR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.04-1.39) have positive causal relationship with the occurrence of liver cancer. And IL-1 alpha ( OR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.71-0.96), IL-24 ( OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.47-0.99), leukemia inhibitory factor ( OR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.60-0.98) and stem cell factor ( OR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.78-0.97) showed negative causal relationship with the occurrence of liver cancer. Heterogeneity tests for all 12 circulating inflammatory proteins revealed no outliers. Sensitivity analyses consistently demonstrated robustness, with no evidence of pleiotropy observed. Neither reverse MR nor MR-Steiger tests supported the existence of a reverse causal relationship between inflammatory proteins and liver cancer. Conclusion:The C-C motif chemokine 20, CD40L receptor, fibroblast growth factor 21, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, IL-13, IL-20, IL-20 receptor subunit alpha, MMP-10, IL-1 alpha, IL-24, leukemia inhibitory factor, and stem cell factor may be causally related to the development of liver cancer.

Objective:To explore the feasibility and safety of robotic-assisted living donor left lateral segmentectomy (LDLLS) in a large pediatric liver transplant program.Methods:Retrospective analysis was performed for clinical data of 45 LDLLS donors and recipients from June 2021 to September 2022.Traditional open donor liver resection (n=30) and robotic-assisted segmentectomy (n=15) were performed.Two groups were compared with regards to operative duration, intraoperative hemorrhage, postoperative healing and postoperative complications.SPSS 21.0 was utilized for statistical analysis.Independent sample T, paired sample T, Wilcoxon rank sum and Chi-square tests were performed for examining the inter-group differences.Results:Operative duration of robot-assisted surgery group was substantially longer than that of traditional open surgery group ( P<0.001). Intraoperative blood loss was less in robot-assisted surgery group was less than that in traditional open surgery group[(106.0±39.8) vs.(251.0±144.8) ml, P=0.001]. Postoperative hospital stay of robot-assisted surgery group was shorter than that of traditional open surgery group[6.0(6.0, 6.0) vs.7.0(6.0, 9.0), P<0.05]. Two cases of postoperative biliary leakage were observed in donor of traditional open surgery group.Among 2 cases of abdominal infection, one was due to biliary leakage from liver section and secondary surgery was then performed.One case of incisional infection and another case of thrombosis occurred in donor of traditional open surgery group.In robot-assisted surgery group, only one donor had amylase elevation.In traditional open surgery group, there were one case of local thrombosis in middle hepatic vein and one case of bile duct stricture.No long-term complications occurred in robot-assisted surgery group during a follow-up period of over 6 months.Finally recipient data analysis indicated that no significant inter-group differences existed in operative duration, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay or postoperative abdominal infection ( P=0.634, P=0.180, P=0.86 and P=0.153). Conclusions:Robotic-assisted LDLLS proves to be be a safe and reliable option for living donor segmentectomy.It is superior to conventional LDLLS in terms of shorter hospital stay, less intraoperative blood loss and fewer postoperative complications.

In recent years, chimeric antigen receptor-modified T-cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy, as a new idea of tumor immunotherapy, has been proved to be effective in hematological diseases. More and more studies have been focusing on this field. At present, some progress have been made in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with CAR-T, but some problems such as solid tumor inherent barrier, tumor microenvironment, immune escape and specific tumor associated antigens still need to be further figure out. Nevertheless, CAR-T immunotherapy will provide a more cutting-edge treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma immunotherapy. In addition, the combination of CAR-T and other methods may also be the direction to be explored in the next step.

Objective To investigate the effect of trimetazidine on ischemic bile duct injury in rats and related mechanism. Methods A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group (Sham group with 10 rats), bile duct ischemia-reperfusion injury group (BIRI group with 10 rats), 6-hour trimetazidine pretreatment group (TMZ-6h group with 10 rats), and 3-day trimetazidine pretreatment group (TMZ-3d group with 10 rats). The ischemia time was 30 minutes, and samples were collected after 24 hours of reperfusion. HE staining was used to observe bile duct injury, and the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and direct bilirubin (DBil) were measured, as well as the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in bile duct tissue; Western Blot was used to measure the levels of the signal molecules related to oxidative stress and apoptosis, such as nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), and caspase-3. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the Sidak t -test was used for further comparison between two groups. Results HE staining showed continuous interruption, necrosis, and exfoliation of bile duct epithelial cells in the BIRI group and no significant change in bile duct tissue in the TMZ-6h group, and in the TMZ-3d group, the bile duct epithelial cells had clear boundaries with a small amount of necrotic and exfoliated cells. Compared with the Sham group, the BIRI group had significant increases in the levels of ALT, ALP, DBil, and MDA (all P < 0.05); compared with the BIRI group, the TMZ-3d group had significant reductions in the levels of ALT, ALP, DBil, and MDA (all P < 0.05); there were no significant differences between the TMZ-6h group and the BIRI group (all P > 0.05). Compared with the Sham group, the BIRI group had a significant reduction in SOD activity ( P < 0.05), the TMZ-3d group had a significant increase compared with the BIRI group ( P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the TMZ-6h group and the BIRI group ( P > 0.05). Compared with the Sham group, the BIRI group had significant increases in the expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, and caspase-3 (all P < 0.05) and a significant reduction in the expression level of Bcl-2 ( P < 0.05); compared with the BIRI group, the TMZ-3d group had significant increases in the expression levels of Nrf2, HO-1, and Bcl-2 ( P < 0.05) and a significant reduction in the expression level of caspase-3 ( P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in Nrf2, HO-1, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 between the TMZ-6h group and the BIRI group (all P > 0.05). Conclusion Trimetazidine can reduce bile duct ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats, possibly by inhibiting the level of oxidative stress in bile duct cells and reducing cell apoptosis.

Liver transplantation is the most effective way to treat end-stage liver disease, but biliary stenosis after liver transplantation, and tumor recurrence after liver transplantation impairs patients’ life quality and long-term survival. This article discussed the current status of treatment of biliary stenosis after liver transplantation and tumor recurrence after liver transplantation which based on the latest domestic and international researches and the authors’ clinical experience.

Objective:To investigate the protective effect of IL-22 on rat liver ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and the potential mechanisms.Methods:Eighteen male specific pathogen free SD rats (7-8 weeks, about 250g) were randomly divided into three groups: Sham group (Sham), hepatic ischemia reperfusion (IRI) and IL-22 preconditioning group (IL-22+ IRI), respectively. The liver IRI model of 70% rats was established. The IL-22+ IRI group was intraperitoneally injected with rcIL-22 (50 mg/kg) 1 hour before surgery, and the Sham group and IRI group were injected with the same dose of normal saline 1 hour before surgery. After 1 h ischemia and 6 h reperfusion, blood was collected from the abdominal aorta, then liver tissue, serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransfease (ALT) levels were measured. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissue were detected. The expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), p-STAT3, nuclear factor erythorid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) were detected by Western blot. Results:Compared with Sham group, serum AST [(1 923.50±92.63) U/L, (1 004.25±65.05) U/L)] and ALT [(1 172.51±180.31) U/L, (583.50±164.75) U/L] levels were increased in IRI group and IL-22+ IRI group (AST: F=293.62; ALT: F=30.33, P<0.05). The levels of MDA in IRI group and IL-22+ IRI group [(1.72±0.12) μmol/mg, (0.98±0.05) μmol/mg] in liver tissue were higher than those in Sham group (0.58±0.14) μmol/mg protein ( F=186.73, P<0.05), and the expression of p-STAT3, Nrf2 and HO-1 was increased. SOD level in IRI group (28.51±3.85) U/mg was lower than that in Sham group (70.25±5.64) U/mg protein ( F=203.41, P<0.05). Compared with IRI group, serum AST and ALT levels in IL-22+ IRI group were decreased, SOD activity in liver tissue was increased, MDA level was decreased, and p-STAT3, Nrf2 and HO-1 expression was increased (all P<0.05). Conclusion:IL-22 could alleviate liver IRI in rats, and the mechanism may be related to the activation of STAT3 and Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and anti-oxidative stress.

[摘 要] 目的： 筛选与肝细胞癌（hepatocellular carcinoma，HCC）预后相关的增强子RNA（enhancer RNA，eRNA）及其对应的靶基因，并探究其调控作用及功能。方法：通过UCSC数据库下载HCC的转录本数据和临床病例数据，提取eRNA及其预测的相应靶基因表达矩阵，用Kaplan-Meier和Spearman相关性分析方法筛选HCC预后相关的eRNA和靶基因，并采用最小化绝对收缩和选择算子回归分析及多因素Cox多元回归分析构建HCC预后风险评分模型。设计合成针对筛选所获关键eRNA AP003469.2的小干扰RNA并转染肝癌SMMC-7721细胞，采用RT-PCR方法验证敲减效率，qPCR法检测AP003469.2靶基因YWHAZ的表达水平，CCK-8法检测转染后SMMC-7721细胞的增殖情况。结果：筛选获得4个与预后相关基因，包括两个eRNA（AP003469.2和SPRY4-AS1）和两个靶基因（PPARGC1A和SLC2A1）（P<0.05），其中PPARGC1A高表达提示预后较好，AP003469.2、SPRY4-AS1和SLC2A1基因高表达则提示预后较差。基于4个基因构建的预后风险评分模型，第1、3和5年的AUC分别为0.730、0.699和0.679，提示模型具备良好的预测效能。在敲减AP003469.2后，SMMC-7721细胞中YWHAZ的表达无明显改变，且对细胞的增殖无影响。结论：基于生物信息学分析共筛选出4个关键基因，其中eRNA AP003469.2是HCC预后预测效能较高的标志物，其无促癌功能且对YWHAZ基因无调控作用。