The La-related protein 1 (LARP1) has been found to be a RNA binding protein and was related to spermatogenesis, embryogenesis and cell-cycle progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of LARP1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Including dispersion slope analysis derived from two-dimensional shear-wave elastography did not improve the diagnostic performance in detecting liver necroinflammation, fibrosis, or steatosis in 1... Background Little is known about the benefits of the use of dispersion slope (DS) as a viscosity-related parameter derived from two-dimensional (2D) shear-wave elastography (SWE) in the stratificat...

BTLA/HVEM (B and T lymphocyte attenuator/herpes virus entry mediator) pathways play a critical role in T cell suppression in tumor. However, its dynamic changes in different T cell subsets in peripheral blood and their clinical significance are largely unclear in cancer patients. In the current study, we showed distinct changes of BTLA and HVEM expressions on peripheral blood CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); BTLA expression were significantly upregulated on circulating CD4⁺ but not CD8⁺ T cells. In sharp contrast, the levels of HVEM expression were significantly downregulated on circulating CD8⁺ but not CD4⁺ T cells. A strong positive correlation between BTLA expression on circulating CD4⁺ T cells and BTLA expression on autologous CD8⁺ counterparts was observed in healthy donors but absent in HCC patients. More importantly, we found that blockade of the BTLA/HVEM pathway increased IFN-γ production in both circulating CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. Collectively, our data suggested that the BTLA/HVEM pathway contributes to peripheral T cell suppression in HCC patients, and BTLA/HVEM may serve as attractive targets for HCC immunotherapy.

Background and Aims. Serum immunoglobulins are frequently increased in patients with chronic liver disease, but little is known about the role of serum immunoglobulins and their correlations with interleukin-27 (IL-27) in patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF). This study was aimed at determining the role of serum immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, and IgM) levels and their associations with IL-27 in noncirrhotic patients with HBV-ACLF.Methods. Samples were assessed from thirty patients with HBV-ACLF, twenty-four chronic hepatitis B (CHB) subjects, and eighteen normal controls. Disease severity of HBV-ACLF was evaluated. Serum IL-27 levels were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Immunoglobulin levels were assessed using immunoturbidimetric assay. Correlations between immunoglobulin levels and IL-27 were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to predict the 3-month mortality.Results. 25 (83.3%) HBV-ACLF patients had elevated serum IgG levels (>1 ULN), 14 (46.7%) patients had elevated IgA, and 15 (50%) had raised IgM. IgG, IgA, and IgM levels were higher in HBV-ACLF patients than in CHB patients and normal controls. Moreover, IgG, IgA, and IgM levels were positively correlated with Tbil levels but negatively correlated with prothrombin time activity (PTA) levels. Additionally, IgG levels were significantly increased in nonsurviving patients than in surviving HBV-ACLF patients (P=0.007) and positively correlated with MELD score (r=0.401,P=0.028). Also, IgG levels were positively correlated with IL-27 levels in HBV-ACLF patients (r=0.398,P=0.029). Furthermore, ROC curve showed that IgG levels could predict the 3-month mortality in HBV-ACLF patients (the area under the ROC curve: 0.752,P=0.005).Conclusions. Our findings demonstrated that serum immunoglobulins were preferentially elevated in HBV-ACLF patients. IgG levels were positively correlated with IL-27 and may predict prognosis in HBV-ACLF patients.

Background and Aims. Concordance between transient elastography (TE) and ultrasonography (US) in assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and concurrent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been rarely studied. This study aimed to evaluate the individual and combined performances of TE and US in assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Patients and Methods. Consecutive CHB patients with NAFLD were prospectively enrolled. TE and US examinations were performed, with liver biopsy as a reference standard. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were obtained to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Differences between the areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) were compared using DeLong’s test. Results. TE and US scores correlated significantly with the histological fibrosis staging scores. TE was significantly superior to US in the diagnosis of significant fibrosis (AUC, 0.84 vs 0.73; P=0.02), advanced fibrosis (AUC, 0.95 vs 0.76; P<0.001), and cirrhosis (AUC, 0.96 vs 0.71; P<0.001). Combining TE with US did not increase the accuracy of detecting significant fibrosis, advanced cirrhosis, or cirrhosis (P=0.62, P=0.69, and P=0.38, respectively) compared to TE alone. However, TE combined with US significantly increased the positive predictive value for significant fibrosis when compared to TE alone. The optimal cut-off values of TE for predicting advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis were 8.7 kPa and 10.9 kPa, with negative predictive values of 92.4% and 98.7%, respectively. Conclusions. TE is useful for predicting hepatic fibrosis and excluding cirrhosis in CHB patients with NAFLD. A combination of TE and US does not improve the accuracy in assessing liver fibrosis or cirrhosis.