Randomised controlled trial: effect of metformin add-on therapy on functional cure in entecavir-treated patients with chronic hepatitis B

Introduction and ObjectivesHepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance, indicating functional cure or resolved chronic hepatitis B (CHB), remains difficult to achieve via nucleos(t)ide analogue monotherapy. We investigated whether metformin add-on therapy could help achieve this goal in entecavir-treated patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB.Patients and MethodsPatients with HBeAg-negative CHB who met eligibility criteria (entecavir treatment for > 12 months, HBsAg < 1000 IU/mL) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 24 weeks of either metformin (1000 mg, oral, once a day) or placebo (oral, once a day) add-on therapy. The group allocation was blinded for both patients and investigators. Efficacy and safety analyses were based on the intention-to-treat set. The primary outcome, serum HBsAg level (IU/mL) at weeks 24 and 36, was analysed using mixed models.ResultsSixty eligible patients were randomly assigned to the metformin (n = 29) and placebo (n = 31) groups. There was no substantial between-group difference in the HBsAg level at week 24 (adjusted mean difference 0.05, 95% confidence interval -0.04 to 0.13, p = 0.278) or week 36 (0.06, -0.03 to 0.15, p = 0.187), and no significant effect of group-by-time interaction on the HBsAg level throughout the trial (p = 0.814). The occurrence of total adverse events between the two groups was comparable (9 [31.0%] of 29 vs. 5 [16.1%] of 31, p = 0.227) and no patient experienced serious adverse events during the study.ConclusionAlthough it was safe, metformin add-on therapy did not accelerate HBsAg clearance in entecavir-treated patients with HBeAg-negative CHB.     

LC-MS-based lipidomic analysis in distinguishing patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis from nonalcoholic fatty liver

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the main liver diseases, and its pathologic profile includes nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, there is no reliable non-invasive parameter in distinguishing NASH from NAFL in clinical practice. The present study was to find a non-invasive way to differentiate these two categories of NAFLD via lipidomic analysis.MethodsLipidomic analysis was used to determine the changes of lipid moieties in blood from 20 NAFL and 10 NASH patients with liver biopsy. Liver histology was evaluated after hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson's trichrome staining. The profile of lipid metabolites in correlation with steatosis, inflammation, hepatocellular necroptosis, fibrosis, and NAFLD activity score (NAS) was analyzed.ResultsCompared with NAFL patients, NASH patients had higher degree of steatosis, ballooning degeneration, lobular inflammation. A total of 434 different lipid molecules were identified, which were mainly composed of various phospholipids and triacylglycerols. Many lipids, such as phosphatidylcholine (PC) (P-22:0/18:1), sphingomyelin (SM) (d14:0/18:0), SM (d14:0/24:0), SM (d14:0/22:0), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (18:0/22:5), PC (O-22:2/12:0), and PC (26:1/11:0) were elevated in the NASH group compared to those in the NAFL group. Specific analysis revealed an overall lipidomic profile shift from NAFL to NASH, and identified valuable lipid moieties, such as PCs [PC (14:0/18:2), PE (18:0/22:5) and PC (26:1/11:0)] or plasmalogens [PC (O-22:0/0:0), PC (O-18:0/0:0), PC (O-16:0/0:0)], which were significantly altered in NASH patients. In addition, PC (14:0/18:2), phosphatidic acid (18:2/24:4) were positively correlated with NAS; whereas PC (18:0/0:0) was correlated positively with fibrosis score.ConclusionsThe present study revealed overall lipidomic profile shift from NAFL to NASH, identified valuable lipid moieties which may be non-invasive biomarkers in the categorization of NAFLD. The correlations between lipid moieties and NAS and fibrosis scores indicate that these lipid biomarkers may be used to predict the severity of the disease.     

Effect of insulin secretagogues on major cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background and aimIn 2019, the Italian Society of Diabetology and the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists nominated an expert panel to develop guidelines for drug treatment of type 2 diabetes. This expert panel, after identifying the effects of glucose-lowering agents on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and all-cause mortality as critical outcomes, decided to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of insulin secretagogues (sulfonylureas and glinides) with this respect.Methods and resultsA MEDLINE database search was performed to identify all RCTs, up to January 1st, 2020, with duration≥52 weeks, in which insulin secretagogues (glibenclamide, gliclazide, glimepiride, glipizide, chlorpropamide, repaglinide, nateglinide) were compared with either placebo or active comparators. The principal endpoints were MACE (restricted for RCT reporting MACEs within their outcomes) and all-cause mortality (irrespective of the inclusion of MACEs among the pre-specified outcomes). Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio (MH–OR) with 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) was calculated for all the endpoints considered. Fourteen RCTs were included in the analysis for MACEs (919 in insulin secretagogues and 1,087 in control group). Insulin secretagogues were not significantly associated with an increased risk of MACEs in comparison with controls (MH–OR 1.08 [95% CI 0.96, 1.22], p = 0.20). When considering the 48 RCTs fulfilling criteria for inclusion in the analysis on all-cause mortality, insulin secretagogues were associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (MH–OR 1.11 [1.00, 1.23], p = 0.04).ConclusionsThis meta-analysis suggests that insulin secretagogues are associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality when compared with placebo or other anti-hyperglycaemic drugs.     

Performance of the Steno type 1 risk engine for cardiovascular disease prediction in Italian patients with type 1 diabetes

Background and aimsPremature cardiovascular disease cause excess mortality in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The Steno T1D Risk Engine was developed and validated in northern European countries but its validity in other populations is unknown. We evaluated the performance of the Steno T1D Risk Engine in Italian patients with T1D.Materials and methodsWe included patients with T1D with a baseline visit between July 2013 and April 2014, who were free of cardiovascular disease and had complete information to estimate risk. The estimated cardiovascular risk score was compared with the 5-year rate of cardiovascular events by means of logistic regression.ResultsAmong 223 patients (mean age 43 ± 13 years, 34.5% male, mean duration of diabetes 22 ± 12 years) the mean estimated cardiovascular risk at 5 years was 5.9% (95% C.I. 5.2–6.5%). At baseline, high estimated risk discriminated the presence of asymptomatic atherosclerosis better than microangiopathy, and was not associated with markers of inflammation or endothelial activation. After a mean follow-up of 4.7 ± 0.5 years, only 3 cardiovascular events were observed and nonetheless the risk score was significantly associated with their incidence (OR 1.22; 95% C.I. 1.08–1.39, p = 0.001). However, the observed event rate was significantly lower than the estimated one (3 vs 13; 95% C.I. 12–14; p < 0.001).ConclusionThe Steno T1D Risk Score identified subjects with subclinical atherosclerosis and high cardiovascular risk in an Italian T1D population. However, the absolute risk was significantly overestimated. Further studies in larger population are needed to confirm these results.     

The Effects of Chronic Ethanol Consumption on Carcinogen Metabolism and on O6-Methylguanine Transferase-Mediated Repair of Alkylated DNA

This article presents a review and update of recent experiments conducted in collaboration with Dr. C. S. Lieber on mechanisms underlying the increased cancer risk associated with alcohol abuse. Ethanol has been found to be a potent inducer of microsomal enzymes involved in carcinogen metabolism in a variety of rat tissues including liver, esophagus, lungs, and intestines. In some of these tissues, ethanol's inductive effect on microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzyme activity may result in enhanced levels of electrophilic metabolites of procarcinogens which are not readily detoxified. In addition, chronic ethanol feeding has been found to depress the activity of O⁶-methylguanine transferase, an enzyme involved in the repair of carcinogen-induced DNA alkylation. The effects of ethanol on carcinogen metabolism and on DNA repair would be expected to enhance the initiation phase of chemically induced cancers.     

130例酒精性肝衰竭患者临床特点与预后分析

目的：分析酒精性肝衰竭患者临床特点及预后影响因素。方法回顾性分析2004年1月至2013年5月住解放军第302医院的资料完整的130例酒精性肝衰竭患者的临床特点及预后影响因素。结果酒精性肝衰竭患者的诱发因素为感染（52.3%）、短期过度饮酒（8.5%）、疲劳（3.8%）、情绪激动（0.8%）,另有34.6%原因不明;酒精性肝衰竭患者治愈或好转率为41.5%,无效率为42.3%,死亡率为16.1%,其中死亡前4位的原因分别为肝性脑病和脑水肿或脑疝（33.3%）、感染性休克（28.6%）、失血性休克（23.8%）和肝肾综合征（9.5%）;无效或死亡患者脑水肿、脑疝和肝肾综合征的发生率分别为14%、7%和36%,显著高于治愈或好转患者[分别为1%、1%和6%,P 均〈0.01）];无效或死亡患者血红蛋白水平[（85.0±28.3） g/L]显著低于治愈或好转组[（95.2±27.6）g/L,P〈0.05）];无效或死亡患者 Maddrey 判别函数、MELD 评分和 Glasgow 评分分别为（94.56±63.17）、（25.52±8.29）和（9.76±1.04）,均显著高于治愈或好转患者[分别为（68.24±24.61）、（19.03±10.13）和（9.30±1.11）,P 均〈0.01）];凝血酶原时间（r=-0.19, P=0.03）、国际标准化比值（r=-0.21,P=0.02）、尿素氮（r=-0.28,P=0.01）和肌酐（r=-0.28,P=0.01）水平与预后均呈负相关关系（P〈0.05或 P〈0.01）,患者出现脑水肿（r=-0.26,P=0.01）、脑疝（r=-0.26,P=0.01）和肝肾综合征（r=-0.38, P=0.01）均与预后呈负相关（P〈0.01）。结论酒精性肝衰竭的常见诱发因素为感染和短期过量饮酒,凝血功能、肾功能和脑功能障碍是预后不良的重要预测因素。     

乙型肝炎病毒基因突变与临床疾病进展的关系

乙型肝炎病毒感染人体可以引起急性和慢性乙型肝炎病毒感染。慢性乙型肝炎病毒感染后疾病的转归包括慢性肝炎、肝硬化、肝细胞癌以及肝衰竭。宿主、病毒因素及它们相互作用影响着疾病的进程。HBV 基因突变导致病毒生物学特性改变是影响乙型肝炎病毒感染转归的重要因素之一。