Since 1992， China has adopted a comprehensive strategy centered on universal infant hepatitis B vaccination. This approach has led to a significant reduction in the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen， particularly among younger age groups. Antiviral therapy not only improves the liver histology but also reduces the incidences of complications of cirrhosis and portal hypertension， as well as the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Clinical guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B have been periodically updated， and the prices of antiviral drugs have been substantially lowered， enhancing treatment accessibility and affordability. However， the HBV-related disease burden remains high in China due to its large population， the considerable number of individuals already chronically infected with HBV， and the low rates of diagnosis and treatment. To meet the global goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030， large-scale testing and treatment of those already infected with HBV are critical.

Over the past three decades， China has made significant progress in the prevention and control of viral hepatitis， and the incidence rates of new-onset pediatric hepatitis B virus infections and acute viral hepatitis in the population have reduced to a relatively low level； however， there is still a heavy disease burden of chronic viral hepatitis in China， which severely affects the health status of the population. This study systematically summarizes the achievements of viral hepatitis prevention and control in China， analyzes existing problems and challenges， and proposes comprehensive prevention and control strategies and measures to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat based on the national conditions of China， in order to provide a reference for related departments in China on how to achieve the action targets for eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

Albumin is the most abundant protein in human plasma， and in addition to the function of maintaining plasma colloid osmotic pressure， it also has the functions of material transport， detoxification， maintaining vascular integrity， antioxidation， anti-inflammation， and immune modulation. In the field of liver disease， albumin is mainly used to prevent circulatory dysfunction after large-volume paracentesis and treat cirrhotic hypoalbuminemia and ascites， spontaneous bacterial peritonitis， and hepatorenal syndrome. The development of recombinant human serum albumin helps to reduce the potential biosafety risks of human serum albumin products and the disadvantages of relying heavily on import. Due to the lack of reference to the results of pivotal clinical trials of marketed human albumin products， there are still various challenges in the design， implementation， and evaluation of clinical trials of human albumin. Therefore， experts in pharmaceutical enterprises， clinical medicine， methodology， and evaluation/supervision are needed to be pragmatic， innovative and collaborative.

Albumin is widely used in clinical practice， and the rationality of trial design directly affects the reliability of research findings and clinical application value. This article reviews the key statistical considerations in the design of albumin clinical trials， including the selection of primary endpoints， the establishment of statistical hypotheses and non-inferiority margins， clinical evaluation criteria for ascites improvement， sample size， and interim analyses， in order to provide methodological guidance for clinical researchers to optimize clinical trial design and enhance its scientific rigor and feasibility.

ObjectiveTo investigate the value of Fried Frailty Phenotype （FFP）， liver frailty index （LFI）， and Short Physical Performance Battery （SPPB） in predicting 2-year all-cause mortality and decompensation events in patients with liver cirrhosis. MethodsA total of 277 patients with liver cirrhosis who were hospitalized in Beijing Friendship Hospital， Capital Medical University， from December 2020 to December 2021 were enrolled， and FFP， LFI， and SPPB were used to assess the state of frailty. Based on the scores of each tool， these patients were divided into frail and non-frail groups. These three tools were compared in terms of consistency and independent predictive performance. The primary endpoints were 2-year all-cause mortality rate and composite endpoints （death+decompensation events）， and the Cox regression analysis， the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve， net reclassification index （NRI）， and integrated discrimination improvement （IDI） index were used to analyze the predictive value of the three tools. Normally distributed continuous data were compared between two groups using the independent samples t-test， while non-normally distributed continuous data were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical data were compared between groups using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. The agreement among different frailty tools was evaluated using Cohen’s Kappa statistic. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve was plotted， and a survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test. ResultsThe prevalence rate of frailty assessed by FFP， LFI， and SPPB was 37.2%， 22.4%， and 20.2%， respectively， with a moderate consistency between FFP and LFI/SPPB （κ=0.57， 95% confidence interval ［CI］： 0.47 — 0.67； κ=0.51， 95%CI： 0.41 — 0.62） and a relatively high consistency between LFI and SPPB （κ=0.87， 95%CI： 0.80 — 0.94）. Compared with the non-frailty group， the frailty group had significantly higher all-cause mortality rate and incidence rate of composite endpoints （P0.001）. After multivariate adjustment， FFP， LFI， and SPPB had a hazard ratio of 2.42（95%CI： 1.51 — 5.11）， 2.21（95%CI： 1.11 — 4.42）， and 2.21（95%CI： 1.14 — 4.30）， respectively， in predicting all-cause mortality， as well as a hazard ratio of 2.51（95%CI： 1.61 — 3.91）， 2.40（95%CI： 1.51 — 3.80）， and 2.20（95%CI： 1.39 — 3.47）， respectively， in predicting composite endpoints. Compared with Child-Pugh score， FFP had a significantly greater area under the ROC curve （AUC） in predicting all-cause mortality （0.79 vs 0.69， P=0.032） and composite endpoints （0.75 vs 0.68， P=0.044）. Frailty assessment tools combined with Child-Pugh score significantly improved the performance in predicting all-cause mortality and composite endpoints， with an AUC of 0.81 — 0.82 and 0.77 — 0.78， respectively （P0.05）. NRI and IDI analyses further confirmed the improvement of the combined model in classification （all P0.001）. ConclusionFFP， LFI， and SPPB can independently predict adverse outcomes in patients with liver cirrhosis， among which FFP has the best predictive performance， and the combination of frailty assessment tools with Child-Pugh score can significantly enhance the accuracy of prognostic evaluation.

Rheumatic diseases are a group of chronic disorders characterized by abnormalities in the immune system， while portal hypertension occurs due to increased blood flow or heightened resistance in the portal venous system or obstruction of hepatic venous outflow. Both rheumatic diseases and their medications can lead to noncirrhotic portal hypertension. The hypercoagulable state associated with rheumatic diseases can result in thrombosis within the portal and hepatic venous systems， and damage to the intrahepatic portal system and hepatic sinusoidal endothelial system can lead to porto-sinusoidal vascular disease and hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome. Moreover， drugs used for the treatment of rheumatic diseases may cause liver parenchymal injury， which further leads to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis， or they may damage the hepatic vascular endothelium and thus cause noncirrhotic portal hypertension. This article elaborates on the mechanisms and characteristics by which common rheumatic diseases and their therapeutic agents lead to portal hypertension， in order to provide insights and assistance for clinical diagnosis， treatment， and follow-up monitoring.

ObjectiveTo investigate the awareness and clinical practice of guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B （2022 edition） among clinicians. MethodsFrom July 19 to December 31， 2024， a self-designed electronic questionnaire was distributed via the WeChat mini program to collect related data from 1 588 clinicians nationwide， including their awareness and practice based on 18 questions regarding testing and referral， diagnosis and treatment， and follow-up. ResultsAmong all respondents， only 350 clinicians correctly understood all the updated key points of antiviral indications and treatment for special populations in the 2022 edition of guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B， with an overall awareness rate of 22.0%. Only 20% ‍—‍ ‍40% of the patients with positive HBV DNA and an age of >30 years receive antiviral therapy， while 80% ‍—‍ ‍100% of the patients with positive HBV DNA and a family history of hepatitis B cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma receive antiviral therapy. The median follow-up rates at 1 year， 3 years， and 5 years were 67.5% 57.5% and 47.5%，respectively， showing a trend of gradual reduction， which might be associated with the influencing factors such as insufficient time for follow-up management by clinicians， insufficient awareness of the disease among patients， and poor adherence to follow-up. ConclusionThere is a gap between the awareness and practice of guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B （2022 edition） among clinicians. It is recommended to further strengthen training and focus on the whole process of “detection， diagnosis， treatment， and management” for patients with chronic hepatitis B in healthcare institutions， in order to promote the implementation of the guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Chronic liver disease (CLD), mainly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a significant public health concern worldwide. This study aims to quantify the burden of NAFLD in CLD globally and within China, using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, providing crucial insights for global and local health policies. METHODS: The study used comprehensive data from the GBD study 2021. It included estimates of prevalence, incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Age-standardized rates and average annual percent change (AAPC) from 2011 to 2021 were reported. A meticulous decomposition analysis was conducted. RESULTS: In 2021, there were 1582.5 million prevalent cases, 47.6 million incident cases, 1.4 million deaths, and 44.4 million DALYs attributable to CLD, globally. Among these, NAFLD has emerged as the predominant cause, accounting for 78.0% of all prevalent CLD cases (1234.7 million) and 87.2% of incident cases (41.5 million). Correspondingly, NAFLD had the highest age-standardized prevalence (15,017.5 per 100,000 population) and incidence (876.5 per 100,000 population) rates among CLDs. In addition, China's CLD age-standardized prevalence rate was 21,659.5 per 100,000 population, and the age-standardized incidence rate was 752.6 per 100,000 population, higher than the global average. From 2011 to 2021, the global prevalence rate of CLD increased slowly (AAPC = 0.17), consistent with the trend in China (AAPC = 0.23). Furthermore, the prevalence rate of NAFLD rose significantly in China (AAPC = 1.30) compared with the global average (AAPC = 0.91). Decomposition analysis also showed the worldwide increase in deaths and DALYs for NAFLD, which were primarily attributable to population growth and aging. CONCLUSIONS The burden of CLD and NAFLD remains substantial globally and within China in terms of high prevalence and incidence. As such, this underscores the need for targeted prevention and treatment strategies. These findings emphasize the importance of continued surveillance and research to mitigate the growing impact of liver diseases on global and Chinese health systems.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/mortality* ; Global Burden of Disease ; China/epidemiology* ; Prevalence ; Male ; Disability-Adjusted Life Years ; Female ; Incidence ; Middle Aged ; Chronic Disease ; Adult ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years ; Liver Diseases/epidemiology* ; Aged

In recent years， the exploration and development of artificial intelligence （AI） technology in clinical trials for liver diseases have promoted the continuous innovation of research methods and processes in this field. AI has gradually become an important technical tool for various links of clinical trial including patient selection， risk stratification， endpoint evaluation， and result interpretation. Nevertheless， the standardized integration of AI into clinical trials still faces the methodological challenges such as data quality control， model interpretability， and causal inference. From the perspective of methodology， this article systematically reviews the principal application scenarios of AI as an object under investigation （validation trials） and as a research tool （supportive trials） in clinical trials for liver diseases， as well as the major methodological challenges of AI-related clinical trials along and the corresponding solution strategies， in order to provide methodological guidance for promoting the scientific and standardized implementation of AI technologies.

On August 31， 2025， the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver （APASL） updated and released management of acute variceal bleeding： updated APASL guidelines （2025 edition）， which systematically elaborates on the definition， diagnosis， assessment， and treatment of acute variceal bleeding. This article gives an excerpt of the recommendations in this guideline.