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Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Annually, about 200,000 patients died of HCC in China. Liver transplantation (LT) holds great theoretical appeal in treating HCC. However, the high recurrence rate after transplantation is the most important limiting factor for long-term survival. Objectives: To assess the value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) messenger RNA (mRNA), Glypican-3 (GPC3) mRNA-expressing cells in the peripheral blood (PB) for prediction of HCC recurrence following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Patients and Methods: 29 patients with HCC who underwent OLT with a minimum clinical follow-up of 12 months were included in this retrospective study. We detected AFP mRNA, GPC3 mRNA-expressing cells in the PB by TaqMan real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), pre-, intra- and post-operatively. The early recurrence of patients was evaluated. Results: 8 (28%), 15 (52%), and 9 (31%) patients had AFP mRNA detected pre-, intra-, and post-operatively, respectively. With 12 months of follow-up, HCC recurred in 7 (24%) patients. Univariate analysis revealed that positive pre- and post-operative AFP mRNA, TNM stage as well as vascular invasion were significant predictors for the HCC recurrence. Multivariate analysis revealed that being positive for AFP mRNA was expressed in all PB samples. There was no significant difference in the expression levels of GPC3 mRNA between the HCC and control groups. There were no significant differences in GPC3 mRNA expression values between those patients with and without tumor recurrence. Conclusions: The pre-operative detection of circulating AFP mRNA-expressing cells could be a useful predictor for HCC recurrence following OLT. GPC3 mRNA-expressing cells in PB seem to have no diagnostic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the present study was to quantitatively monitor the response of CD95 molecules expressed on CD3+ T cells (CD95+CD3+ cells) and CD38 molecules expressed on CD8+ T cells (CD38+CD8+ cells) to ganciclovir treatment after orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) in recipients with active human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 20 liver transplanted recipients with active HCMV infection and 24 recipients without HCMV infection. CD95+CD3+ cells and CD38+CD8+ cells were quantitatively detected with QuantiBRITE bead methods by dual-color flow cytometry analysis during the post-transplantation period. Results: CD95+CD3+ cells and CD38+CD8+ cells were not significantly different among different ages of healthy adults ( P > 0.05). CD95+CD3+ cells and CD38+CD8+ cells were drastically increased in the active HCMV infection group compared with that in the stable group or in the healthy group ( P < 0.001), and then they were gradually decreased within the next several weeks after ganciclovir treatment when compared with active HCMV infection recipients ( P < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study showed that CD38+CD8+ T cells can be an appropriate immunological marker for early detection and antiviral therapeutic monitoring of HCMV infection. The evaluation of CD95 molecule levels may be used routinely in clinical practice to assess the level of immunosuppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor which discusses the effectiveness of the antiviral Tenofir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) which reduces the probability of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence is presented in the 2014 issue of the journal "Transplant International."

Marked improvement in the prognosis for patients with liver cancer who undergo liver transplantation has been achieved as a result of advances in liver transplantation techniques. Given the current shortage of organs in China, a favorable long-term survival rate might be achieved with rigorous selection of suitable patients and therefore benefit society the most. Further study of the mechanism of cancer recurrence following liver transplantation, continuing to optimize pretreatment strategies prior to liver transplantation, and paying closer attention to the prevention and treatment of cancer recurrence following liver transplantation are important steps to improve the longterm clinical benefit of liver transplantation for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Perfecting the techniques of liver transplantation using a marginal donor liver is the main way to solve the current problem of an organ shortage for patients with liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the changes in cyclophilin A (CyPA) signal pathway in rat myocardial tissue after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)., Methods: Sixty-eight healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (n = 8), instantaneous CPR after cardiac arrest (CA), immediate CPR after CA (CRP), and 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes after CPR groups, respectively, with 10 rats in each group. Asphyxia was simulated by occlusion of the tracheal tube at the end of exhalation. Mechanical ventilation, compression and epinephrine injection were given for restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in order to reproduce cardiopulmonary resuscitation after cardiac arrest (CA-CPR) models in rats. Hemodynamic changes were recorded at different time points. The blood was collected from abdominal aorta, and myocardial tissue was also harvested. The serum CyPA and CD147 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The protein positive cells and mRNA expression of CyPA and CD147 in myocardial tissue of the rats were determined by immunohistochemical and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR ). The protein expressions of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in rat myocardial tissue were determined by Western Blot. The neutrophil infiltration in rat myocardial tissue was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining., Results: The heart rate of rat was lowered to 0 with arterial pressure lowered immediately after CA. Arterial pressure was elevated to normal range immediately after CPR. Heart rate was restored at about 30 minutes later, and the dose of epinephrine was 50-60 µg, and ROSC time was 1-4 minutes. Compared with those of the sham group, serum CyPA and CD147 levels were gradually increased along with elongation of ROCS time within 120 minutes, and peaked at 120 minutes, CyPA was increased from (786.11 ± 3.93) µL to (2001.80 ± 10.61) µg/L, and CD147 was increased from (2.94 ± 0.02) µg/L to (5.99 ± 0.023) µg/L (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). CyPA and CD147 mRNA expressions (A value) in rat myocardial tissue were gradually increased, and peaked at 120 minutes. Relative expression of CyPA at 120 minutes was 2.42 ± 0.05 when it was 1 in the control, and relative expression of CD147 at 120 minutes was 1.88 ± 0.10 (both P < 0.01). The immunohistochemical results under light microscope showed that the brown positive cells were gradually increased, which indicated that the expressions of CyPA and CD147 were increased. Expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and MPO (gray value) in myocardial tissue were also gradually increased, peaking at 120 minutes, and MMP-2 was increased from 0.396 ± 0.021 to 0.879 ± 0.020, MMP-9 was increased from 0.372 ± 0.009 to 0.819 ± 0.012, and MPO was increased from 0.176 ± 0.005 to 0.829 ± 0.018 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). No obvious neutrophil infiltration in myocardial tissue was found with HE staining., Conclusion: Expressions of CyPA and CD147 were up-regulated in serum and myocardial tissue after CPR in rats, which may be the markers of inflammatory reaction.