Liver regeneration is an important response after liver injury and necrosis to maintain liver volume and function, with the involvement of various factors and signaling pathways. This process has three main stages, i.e., the initial stage of mitosis triggered by certain factors, the proliferation stage of promoting hepatocytes to enter the cell cycle, and the termination stage of promoting liver cells to reach a certain number and the recovery of liver mass. This article introduces various factors and multiple cellular signaling pathways that promote the differentiation of liver stem cells into liver cells to restore liver volume and function and summarizes the previous research findings of our group that alpha-fetoprotein is an important serum marker for liver regeneration after liver failure. The analysis shows that in-depth studies of the occurrence and clinical application of liver regeneration will help to improve the understanding of liver regeneration, better predict the prognosis of acute and chronic liver diseases, and provide new ideas and methods for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of various advanced liver diseases.

Objective: To investigate the value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level on survived hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) patients treated with artificial liver. Methods: Clinical indicators of HBV-ACLF patients who were previously treated with plasma exchange-based artificial liver at our department were retrospectively collected. The difference of serum AFP level between the survival and the death group was compared at 30, 90 and 180 days after artificial liver treatment. The ROC curves of the subjects were plotted, and the sensitivity and specificity of AFP for the survival prediction of the patients at 30, 90 and 180 days after artificial liver surgery were calculated. AFP was divided into a high AFP group and a low AFP group using median value. AFP and postoperative survival predictive value at 30, 90, and 180 days were analyzed. Results: A total of 93 cases were included in this study. The AFP of the survival group at 30, 90, and 180 days was (231.0 ± 286.2) ng / ml, (237.69 ± 297) ng / ml, (229.44 ± 286.46) ng/ml, and the death group was (76.4 ± 104.7) ng/ml, (103.13 ± 116.99) ng / ml, (136.34 ± 2.9.29) ng/ml, respectively. AFP of the death group was significantly lower than the corresponding survival group (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval at 30, 90, and 180 days after artificial liver surgery were 0.739 (0.611 ~ 0.867), 0.675 (0.550 ~ 0.80), 0.653 (0.524 ~ 0.781), respectively. The median serum AFP value was 110 ng/ml, and the survival analysis showed that the survival time of the high AFP group was significantly higher than the low AFP group at 30 d (P = 0.01), 90 d (P = 0.04) and 180 d (P = 0.03) after artificial liver surgery. Conclusion Serum AFP can be used as a predictor of survival for HBV-ACLF patients after artificial liver therapy and its clinical value needs to be further verified by the larger sample size.

The liver has a very special dual blood supply, including the portal vein (65%~75%) and hepatic artery (25%~35%). The hepatic veins returns blood to the systemic circulation via the portal vein, and hepatic artery after hepatic sinusoidal confluence. The lesions on the hepatic vein and its branches can cause ischemia and hypoxia or obstruction of the drainage system, portal hypertension, upper gastrointestinal variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, and so on. Clinically, hepatic vascular diseases are relatively rare, so the diagnosis and treatment are relatively difficult. Herein, we review the diseases related to the hepatic vascular system.

Objective To investigate the changes of antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and C-reactive protein (CRP ) in the patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive sputum culture and their mutual relation . Methods Fifty cases of Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive sputum culture and 27 cases undergoing physical ex-amination in the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from September 2016 to May 2017 were selected as the research subjects .The level of antimicrobial peptide LL-37 was detected by double antibody sandwich ELISA and the CRP level was detected by immunoturbidimetry .Results The levels of antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and CRP in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive sputum culture group were significantly high-er than those in the healthy control group ,the difference was statistically significant (P< 0 .05) ,and they showed the positive correlation (r=0 .411 ,P<0 .05) .Conclusion In positive sputum culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and CRP levels are increased ,which has a certain clinical application value for the early diagnosis of infection .

Objective To explore the risk of tuberculosis infection in patients with malignant tumors.Methods The sputum samples and blood samples from 396 patients with malignant tumor and 80 healthy subjects were detected by modified Roche cul-ture,real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,colloidal gold,T cell spots(TSPOT.TB)and single immunodiffusion(SRID).Results The positive rate of the experimental group of 396 cases of malignant tumor patients with five kinds of methods for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were improved Lowenstein Jensen 12.1%(48/396),real-time PCR(169/396)42.7%,colloidal gold 38.9%(154/396),TSPOT.TB 44.9%(178/396),SRID 10.4%(41/396).In the control group,the positive result was detected only by real-time fluorescent PCR 8.7%(7/80),colloidal gold 6.3%(5/80),and TSPOT.TB 27.5%(22/80).The differences of the results of the same detection method were statistically significant(P<0.01).The experimental group was grouped according to the location of the lesion,and there was no statistical difference between the indexes of each group(P>0.05).In comparison with other types of tumor,there were no statistical differences in every index of every group(P>0.05).But the positive rates of liver cancer patients were lower than those of other types of tumor,and all the positive rates of lung cancer patients were higher than those of other types of tumor.Conclusion Patients with malignant tumor is a high-risk group of TB infection.It is suggested that early screening and regular monitoring of TB infection should be done for patients with malignant tumor,so as to achieve early de-tection and early treatment.

At present, the most effective therapeutic method for end-stage liver fibrosis is liver transplantation. However, the application of liver transplantation is limited by a shortage of liver donors, a high incidence rate of surgical complications, graft-versus-host disease, and high medical costs. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) transplantation may become a promising method for the treatment of liver diseases. UC-MSCs are adult stem cells which exhibit multipotential differentiation and can differentiate into hepatic parenchymal cells. Due to their functions including immune regulation and secretion of trophic factors, UC-MSCs can inhibit immune response, promote hepatocyte regeneration, alleviate the progression of liver fibrosis, and improve liver function. In addition, compared with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, UC-MSCs have abundant sources, noninvasive collection, and high safety and thus they are attracting more and more attention. This article reviews the characteristics of UC-MSCs and their mechanism of action in the treatment of liver fibrosis, as well as risks of UC-MSCs therapy.

Portal hypertension is a common clinical disease and brings a series of complications including the formation of gastrointestinal varicose veins, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and abdominal varicose veins. Most of these complications are related to the opening of collateral circulation after the increase in portal venous pressure. On one hand, collateral circulation helps to alleviate the high portal venous pressure, and on the other hand, it brings related complications to patients. This article reviews recent reports and studies on collateral circulation related to portal hypertension, in order to increase our knowledge of collateral circulation in portal hypertension and improve clinical diagnosis and treatment of such disease.

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of continuous blood purification (CBP) on serum inflammatory mediators in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). MethodsSixty-five SAP patients with MODS who were treated in General Hospital of Chengdu Command Area of Chinese PLA from April 2008 to December 2013 were enrolled and divided into two groups. The 33 patients in the control group received comprehensive internal medicine treatment, and the 32 patients in the treatment group received comprehensive internal medicine treatment and CBP. Changes in APACHE II score, MODS score, and the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-18, platelet-activating factor (PAF), and nitric oxide (NO) after treatment were observed. Independent-samples t test was applied for comparison of continuous data between the two groups, and paired t test was applied for before-after comparison within the same group; chi-squared test was applied for comparison of categorical data between the two groups. ResultsIn both groups, APACHE II score, MODS score, and the serum levels of TNFα, CRP, IL-6, IL-18, PAF, and NO decreased significantly after treatment (all P＜0.05), and the treatment group had significantly greater decreases in these values than the control group (all P＜0.001); the survival rates in the treatment group and the control group were 90.6% (29/32) and 78.8% (26/33), respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups (χ2=1.749, P=0.186). ConclusionIn SAP patients with MODS, CBP can effectively clear the serum inflammatory mediators to block systemic inflammatory response and improve organ function, and, therefore, it is an effective method to treat SAP.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) can effectively reduce portal hypertension, prevent recurrent esophagogastric variceal bleeding, and relieve intractable ascites. TIPS involves vessel puncture, expansion of puncture tract within the liver parenchyma, and stent implantation, and may cause various complications. The effective prevention and treatment of TIPS-related complications have become a new direction for research in TIPS. This article reviews the intraoperative and postoperative complications of TIPS and related preventive and treatment strategies.