Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2020 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Adoptive transfer of immune cells such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells has emerged as a\ntargeted method of controlling the immune system against cancer. Despite their significant therapeutic potential,\nefficient methods to generate adequate numbers of NK cells are lacking and ex vivo-expansion and activation of\nNK cells is currently under intensive investigation. The primary purpose of this study was to develop an effective\nmethod for expansion and activation of the effector cells with high proportion of NK cells and increasing\ncytotoxicity against liver cancer in a short time period.\nMethods: Expanded NK cell-enriched lymphocytes (NKL) designated as â??MYJ1633â? were prepared by using\nautologous human plasma, cytokines (IL-2, IL-12 and IL-18) and agonistic antibodies (CD16, CD56 and NKp46)\nwithout an NK cell-sorting step. The characteristics of NKL were compared to those of freshly isolated PBMCs. In\naddition, the cytotoxic effect of the NKL on liver cancer cell was examined in vitro and in vivo.\nResults: The total cell number after ex vivo-expansion increased about 140-fold compared to that of freshly\nisolated PBMC within 2 weeks. Approximately 78% of the expanded and activated NKL using the house-developed\nprotocol was NK cell and NKT cells even without a NK cell-sorting step. In addition, the expanded and activated\nNKL demonstrated potent cytotoxicity against liver cancer in vitro and in vivo.\nConclusion: The house-developed method can be a new and effective strategy to prepare clinically applicable NKL\nfor autologous NK cell-based anti-tumor immunotherapy....
The achalasia is a rare primary esophageal motor disorder characterized by\nrelaxation disorders of the lower esophageal sphincter and absence of the\nesophageal body peristalsis. Several studies suggest that the response to the\nendoscopic treatment depends on several predictors. The aim of our study\nwas to evaluate the endoscopic treatment of esophageal achalasia and identify\nthe predictive factors of endoscopic treatment response. Patients and Methods:\nThis is a retrospective analytical study of 78 patients with achalasia,\nmanaged in the gastroenterology department of the university medical center\nHassan II-Fez, during a period of 5 years (January 2009 to December 2014).\nThe diagnosis of achalasia was retained on a set of clinical, endoscopic, manometric\nand radiological arguments. A graded dilation protocol starting\nwith a 35 mm balloon three times for 30 seconds in progressive pressure between\n5 and 8 psi was performed. We used the Eckardt score to evaluate the\nclinical remission. Results: During the study period, 78 patients were included.\nThe average age of our patients was 47 years old [18 - 81] with a\nsex-ratio M/F of 1.05. The average of Eckardt score before dilation was 5.9 [3\n- 9]. An average of 1.41 dilation sessions was performed per patient with\n85.9% of the initial success rate (n = 67). Initial success without further dilation\nsessions was achieved in 55.1% of our patients (n = 43). A clinical recurrence\nrequiring further dilation sessions was observed in 30.8% of the cases (n\n= 24). The average relapse time after first dilation success was 2.7 years, 75%\noccurs within the first year. Dilation failure was retained in 14 patients\n(17.9%) requiring surgery. Only one post-dilation perforation was noted. In\nmultivariate analysis, only odynophagia and the number of dilatation sessions\nwere factors of failure of the endoscopic dilation. Conclusion: Pneumatic dilation\nis a minimally morbid and effective procedure. Our work showed that odynophagia, and the number of dilation sessions, are two predictive factors\nof endoscopic treatment failure....
The objective of our study was to evaluate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection\nin an urban population. This longitudinal study was conducted in Bamako\nDistrict and Kati Commune. After a preparatory phase, the persons who accepted\nthe protocol were assessed for HBsAg. HBsAg carriers had blood collection\nfor HBeAg assay, viral load assessment, genotyping, DNA mutation\ntesting, and severity of hepatic fibrosis and necrosis. At the end of this study,\n1475 persons were included, of which 195 had HBsAg positive confirmed,\nthat is to say 13.97%.................................
Background: The real-world incidence of chronic liver damage after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is\nunclear. LiverT, a retrospective, observational study, assessed liver function deterioration after a single TACE in\nreal-world hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in US practice.\nMethods: Eligible HCC patients identified from Optumâ??s integrated database using standard codes as having had\nan index TACE between 2010 and 2016 with no additional oncologic therapy in the subsequent 3 months. At least\none laboratory value (bilirubin, albumin, aspartate transaminase [AST], alanine transaminase [ALT], international\nnormalized ratio [INR]) was required at baseline and the acute (less than equal to29 days after TACE) and chronic (30-90 days after\nTACE) periods. Due to lack of universally accepted liver function deterioration criteria, clinically meaningful changes\nin laboratory parameters were pre-defined by authors (FP, RM, and SO).\nResults: Of the 3963 TACE patients, 572 were eligible for analyses. Deterioration of liver function from baseline\noccurred in the acute period and persisted in the chronic period (bilirubin 30 and 23%, albumin 52 and 31%, AST\n44 and 25%, ALT 43 and 25%, INR 25 and 15%, respectively). In a subgroup analysis, a higher proportion of patients\nwith diabetes had deterioration in AST and ALT.\nConclusions: A clinically meaningful proportion of real-world HCC patients had deterioration of liver function-related\nlaboratory values 30-90 days after a single TACE in modern US practice. Future electronic health record research may\nhelp determine causality. The present findings highlight the need for the careful selection of patients for TACE, which is\nimportant to help optimize the benefit of the overall HCC treatment course....
Background: Caspase-1 is an evolutionarily conserved enzyme that proteolytically cleaves the precursors of the\ninflammatory cytokines interleukin 1Beta and interleukin 18. However, the role of caspase-1 in determining the severity\nof acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) has yet to be elucidated. We evaluated the expression levels of caspase-1 in\nHBV-related liver disease and assessed its utility as a biomarker predicting the severity of ACLF.\nMethods: The gene, protein and activity levels of caspase-1 were measured in the liver and/or serum of subjects\nwith HBV-related disease. We also analysed the correlation between the expression levels of caspase-1 and liver\ninjury of ACLF.\nResults: Compared with the values observed in normal subjects, the relative caspase-1 mRNA and protein levels in\nlivers were decreased in patients with CHB, LC, and HCC but increased in those with ACLF; moreover, ACLF patients\nhad the lowest serum level and hepatic activity of caspase-1 among the five groups. The serum caspase-1 levels in\nACLF patients showed a negative correlation with total serum bilirubin and a positive correlation with serum total\nprotein and albumin. Importantly, the serum caspase-1 levels in the surviving group with ACLF were higher than\nthose in the non-surviving group and showed different dynamic trends. Analyses of the area under the receiver\noperating characteristic curve indicated that caspase-1 (AUC = 0.84, AUC of MELD score = 0.72) may be a useful\nmarker for independently predicting ACLF....
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