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Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronically progressive autoimmune liver disease. At present, There are limited drugs to treat PBC, and some patients eventually progress to end-stage liver disease due to poor response to drugs. The pathogenesis of PBC is not fully understood, but there is increasing evidence that apoptosis of bile duct epithelial cell (BEC) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PBC. This article reviewed the main factors and related mechanisms affecting BEC apoptosis in PBC, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for developing new therapeutic targets, developing new drugs or proposing new therapeutic schemes for PBC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Design Methods Results Conclusion Impact Patient or Public Contribution To investigate the trajectory patterns and influencing factors of supportive care needs in stroke patients.A longitudinal study.In total, 207 stroke patients who received treatment at the Department of Neurology in a hospital in Xuzhou between July 2022 and July 2023 were recruited using convenience sampling. Questionnaires including supportive care needs, hospital anxiety and depression scale, and the Barthel index were investigated at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months. A latent class growth model was applied to identify the supportive care needs trajectories. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the predictors for membership. This study adheres to STROBE reporting guidelines.Three patterns of supportive care needs trajectories were identified: A high needs slow decline group (20.8%), a medium needs stable group (56.5%) and a medium needs rapid decline group (22.7%). Based on further analysis, the findings indicated that age, education level, monthly income, comorbidity, activities of daily living, anxiety and depression were associated with the trajectory categories of supportive care needs with stroke patients.This study demonstrates heterogeneity in changes in supportive care needs among stroke patients. Healthcare providers need to consider these different categories of needs and develop individualized care measures based on the characteristics of different patients.Healthcare providers should be aware of the fluctuations in care needs of stroke patients at various stages. Additionally, the study aimed to identify patients' specific needs based on their circumstances, monitor the rehabilitation process and establish a more personalized and optimized care plan through multidisciplinary collaboration. The ultimate goal was to alleviate symptomatic distress and address the long‐term care needs of patients.No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale and Objectives: The tumor-tropic properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) enable them to serve as appealing cellular vehicles for delivering therapeutic agents to treat malignant glioma. However, the exact engraftment status of MSCs in glioma via different administration routes remains unclear due to the lack of quantitative analysis. This study aimed to quantify the engraftment of MSCs in glioma after administration via different routes using non-invasive dual-modality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bioluminescence imaging (BLI)., Materials and Methods: MSCs were transduced with a lentivirus overexpressing ferritin heavy chain (FTH) and firefly luciferase (FLUC) reporter genes to yield FTH- and FLUC-overexpressed MSCs (FTH-FLUC-MSCs). Wistar rats bearing intracranial C6 glioma received peritumoral, intratumoral, intra-arterial, and intravenous injection of FTH-FLUC-MSCs, respectively. MRI and BLI were performed to monitor FTH-FLUC-MSCs in vivo., Results: FTH-FLUC-MSCs administered via peritumoral, intratumoral and intra-arterial routes migrated specially toward the intracranial glioma in vivo, as detected by MRI and BLI. As quantified by the BLI signal intensity, the percentages of FTH-FLUC-MSCs in the glioma were significantly higher with peritumoral injection (61%) and intratumoral injection (71%) compared to intra-arterial injection (30%) and intravenous injection (0%). Peritumorally injected FTH-FLUC-MSCs showed a gradual decline, with approximately 6% of FTH-FLUC-MSCs still retained within the tumor up to 11 days after injection. Meanwhile, the number of FTH-FLUC-MSCs injected via other routes dropped quickly, and none were detectable by day 11 post-injection., Conclusion: Peritumoral delivery of FTH-FLUC-MSCs offers robust engraftment and could be used as the optimal delivery route for treating malignant glioma., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The incidence of small (≤2 cm), non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-pNETs) increased in the last decades. Before making appropriate strategy for patients with NF-pNETs ≤2 cm, pathological confirmation is vital. Incidentally diagnosed, sporadic small NF-pNETs may bring aggressive behavior and poor prognosis, such as extrapancreatic extension, lymph nodal metastasis, distant metastasis and recurrence, even causing disease-related death. Understanding and formulating an appropriate strategy for the patients with sporadic small, non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors have been controversial for some time. Although several studies have reported that patients with NF-pNETs ≤2 cm had less rate of malignant behavior compared with larger ones (>2 cm); and the surgery approach may leading to surgery-related pancreatic complications; but there is still a lack of level I evidence to convince surgeons to abandon all cases with sporadic small NF-pNETs. Based on an updated literature search and review, the members of the Chinese Study Group for Neuroendocrine Tumors (CSNET) from high-volume centers have reached a consensus on the issue of the management strategy for the sporadic small NF-pNETs. We recommend that, except for some selected patients with NF-pNETs <1 cm, incidentally discovered and unacceptable surgical risks, all others with NF-pNETs ≤2 cm should undergo tumor resection with lymph node dissection or at least lymph node sampling and careful postoperative surveillance.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the therapeutic efficacy of transplantation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSC) in different routes in acute hepatic failure (ALF) in rats., Methods: hUCMSCs were isolated and identified by detection of surface antigens via flow cytometry. In T group and H group, ALF rats received hUCMSC transplantation through the tail vein and intrahepatic injection, respectively. In hUCMSC group, healthy rats received hUCMSCs transplantation via the tail vein. In ALF group, rats received injection of normal saline through the tail vein., Results: The TBil and ALT in ALF rats with and without transplantation were significantly higher than in healthy rats (P<0.05). HE staining of the liver showed obvious hepatocyte regeneration and reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells, and liver pathology was improved in T group and H group as compared to ALF group. At 3 d after transplantation, CK18 expression was detectable in both H group and T group. At 1 w and 2 w, the mRNA expressions of CK8, CK18 and AFP in H group and T group were significantly different from those in ALF group (P<0.05). The liver function and differentiation of stem cells were comparable between H group and T group (P>0.05)., Conclusion: hUCMSCs transplantation can improve the liver function and promote the liver repair following ALF. hUCMSCs transplantation via tail vein has similar therapeutic efficacy to that through intrahepatic injection.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation on the expression of high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) in the serum and liver of rats with acute liver failure (ALF)., Methods: Healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, ALF group and BMSCs group. ALF was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 900 mg/kg D-GalN and 10 μg/kg LPS. In BMSCs group, rats received BMSCs (1.0×10(7)) transplantation via the tail vein at 2 h after ALF induction., Results: Intraperitoneal injection of 900 mg/kg D-GalN and 10 μg/kg LPS was able to induce ALF in rats. In ALF group, serum ALT and AST increased gradually over time. At 72 h, the serum ALT and AST in BMSCs group were significantly different from those in ALF group. HMGB1 expression in the serum and liver remained at a low level at any time point in control group, but increased significantly in ALF group and BMSCs group. The serum and liver HMGB1 expression increased progressively in ALF group, but reduced gradually in BMSCs group. Significant difference in serum and liver HMGB1 expression was observed between ALF group and BMSCs group at 24 h and 72 h. In addition, there was marked difference in the survival rate among three groups at 24 h (χ (2) =21.098, P<0.01)., Conclusion: BMSCs transplantation is able to improve the liver function and liver pathology in ALF rats and decrease the serum and liver HMGB1.

Objective: To compare frequencies of natural killer (NK) cell subsets and their surface expression of the NKG2D receptor in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and to determine the correlation between expression of MICA on monocytes and function-associated receptors on the NK cells of PBC patients., Methods: Twenty patients with PBC and 18 healthy donors were included in the study. Peripheral blood samples anticoagulated with heparin were labeled with the following antibody combinations: anti-CD45/anti-CD14/anti-MICA, antiCD3/anti-CD56/anti-CD16/anti-NKG2D. Frequencies of MICA-positive monocytes, NK cell subsets, and NK cells with surface expression of NKG2D were measured with flow cytometry. Correlation of MICA expression on monocytes with NKG2D expreesion on NK cells was assessed through linear correlation and regression analysis., Results: The PBC patients had significantly lower percentages of NK cells than the healthy donors (6.8%+/-2.9% vs.16.4%+/-3.4%, P =0.000<0.05). In the PBC patients, the percentage of CD56-positive NK ceils was significantly higher than that of CD16-positive NK cells (4.2%+/-2.8% vs.1.4%+/-0.7%, P=0.003<0.05). The PBC patients also had significantly higher percentage of NKG2D surface expressing CD56-positive NK cells than the healthy donors (79.4%+/-10.2% vs.64.8%+/-10.7%, P=0.000<0.05). The PBC patients and healthy donors showed no statistically significant differences in percentages of NKG2D surface expressing CDl6-positive NK (70.1%+/-12.9% vs.61.1%+/-5.9%, P=0.078>0.05). MICA was seldom detected on normal monocytes (2.6%+/-1.9%), but present for 51.6%+/-16.2% of monoeytes from the PBC patients (P =0.000<0.05). There was a significant difference in frequency of CD14/MICA double-positive monocytes between the healthy donors and PBC patients. No correlation of MICA expression on monocytes with NKG2D expression on NK cells was found., Conclusion: PBC patients have lower levels of NK cells in peripheral blood than their healthy counterparts. PBC patients also have higher levels of the CD56+ NK cell subset and cells with surface expression of the activated NKG2D receptor. It appears that PBC patients have a greater level of CD14+MICA+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells. NK cells may be affected by the PBC-related monocytes and participate in disease pathogenesis through immune regulation.