BACKGROUND:The prognosis and clinical management of patients with chronic liver diseases are closely related to the severity of liver fibrosis.Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for the staging of liver fibr...BACKGROUND:The prognosis and clinical management of patients with chronic liver diseases are closely related to the severity of liver fibrosis.Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for the staging of liver fibrosis.However,it is an invasive test sometimes related to complications.This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of enhanced liver fibrosis(ELF) test to predict liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.METHODS:This study included 162 patients with liver disease and 67 healthy controls.Hyaluronic acid,tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase type 1,and amino-terminal propeptide type III procollagen were measured by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay with the ELF test ADVIA Centaur(Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc.).Fibrosis stage was determined using the Metavir scoring system.RESULTS:In our study,for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis(Metavir F≥2) a cut-off value 】7.72 provides a sensitivity of 93.0% and a specificity of 83.0%.The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve,sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values were 0.94,93.3%,81.0%,93.3%,and 81.0%,respectively(P【0.001).For the diagnosis of cirrhosis(Metavir F=4) a cut-off value 】9.3 provides a sensitivity of 93.0% and a specificity of 86.0%.The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve,sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values were 0.94,79.1%,90.8%,75.6%,and 92.3%,respectively(P【0.001).CONCLUSIONS:The ELF test is a promising non-invasive method for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.It is effective in the diagnosis of both fibrosis and cirrhosis.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the presence of total gut viral content in obese mice, and establish correlation with obesity associated metabolic measures and gut microbiome.METHODS: Fresh fecal samples were collected from norma...AIM: To investigate the presence of total gut viral content in obese mice, and establish correlation with obesity associated metabolic measures and gut microbiome.METHODS: Fresh fecal samples were collected from normal and obese(Leptin deficient Lep^(ob/ob)) mice. Total viral DNA and RNA was isolated and quantified for establishing the correlation with metabolic measures and composition of gut bacterial communities.RESULTS: In this report, we found that obese mice feces have higher viral contents in terms of total viral DNA and RNA(P < 0.001). Interestingly, these increased viral DNA and RNA content were tightly correlated with metabolic measures, i.e., body weight, fat mass and fasting blood glucose. Total viral content were positively correlated with firmicutes(R^2 > 0.6), whilst negatively correlated with bacteroidetes and bifidobacteria. CONCLUSION: This study suggests the strong correlation of increased viral population into the gut of obese mice and opens new avenues to explore the role of gut virome in pathophysiology of obesity.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND:The prognosis and clinical management of patients with chronic liver diseases are closely related to the severity of liver fibrosis.Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for the staging of liver fibrosis.However,it is an invasive test sometimes related to complications.This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of enhanced liver fibrosis(ELF) test to predict liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.METHODS:This study included 162 patients with liver disease and 67 healthy controls.Hyaluronic acid,tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase type 1,and amino-terminal propeptide type III procollagen were measured by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay with the ELF test ADVIA Centaur(Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc.).Fibrosis stage was determined using the Metavir scoring system.RESULTS:In our study,for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis(Metavir F≥2) a cut-off value 】7.72 provides a sensitivity of 93.0% and a specificity of 83.0%.The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve,sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values were 0.94,93.3%,81.0%,93.3%,and 81.0%,respectively(P【0.001).For the diagnosis of cirrhosis(Metavir F=4) a cut-off value 】9.3 provides a sensitivity of 93.0% and a specificity of 86.0%.The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve,sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values were 0.94,79.1%,90.8%,75.6%,and 92.3%,respectively(P【0.001).CONCLUSIONS:The ELF test is a promising non-invasive method for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.It is effective in the diagnosis of both fibrosis and cirrhosis.
文摘AIM: To investigate the presence of total gut viral content in obese mice, and establish correlation with obesity associated metabolic measures and gut microbiome.METHODS: Fresh fecal samples were collected from normal and obese(Leptin deficient Lep^(ob/ob)) mice. Total viral DNA and RNA was isolated and quantified for establishing the correlation with metabolic measures and composition of gut bacterial communities.RESULTS: In this report, we found that obese mice feces have higher viral contents in terms of total viral DNA and RNA(P < 0.001). Interestingly, these increased viral DNA and RNA content were tightly correlated with metabolic measures, i.e., body weight, fat mass and fasting blood glucose. Total viral content were positively correlated with firmicutes(R^2 > 0.6), whilst negatively correlated with bacteroidetes and bifidobacteria. CONCLUSION: This study suggests the strong correlation of increased viral population into the gut of obese mice and opens new avenues to explore the role of gut virome in pathophysiology of obesity.
