Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2011; 33: 1104–1112
Summary
Background The role of anti‐viral therapy in prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence is to be defined.
Aim To investigate the role ...of anti‐viral therapy in prevention of tumour recurrence after curative treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related HCC.
Methods A systematic electronic search on keywords including HCC and different anti‐viral therapies was performed through eight electronic databases, including Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Databases. The primary outcome was HCC recurrence after curative treatment of HBV‐related HCC. The secondary outcomes were mortality related to HCC, mortality related to liver failure and the overall mortality.
Results Nine cohort studies were included with a total number of 551 patients: 204 patients with anti‐viral treatment group and 347 patients without anti‐viral treatment (control group). There was significant difference in the incidence of HCC recurrence in favour of the anti‐viral treatment group (55% vs. 58%; odds risk (OR) = 0.59, 95% CI 0.35–0.97, P = 0.04). The risk of HCC was reduced by 41% in the anti‐viral treatment group. There were also significant differences in favour of anti‐viral treatment group in terms of liver‐related mortality (0% vs. 8%; OR = 0.13, 95% CI 0.02–0.69, P = 0.02) and overall mortality (38% vs. 42%; OR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.14–0.50, P < 0.001).
Conclusions Anti‐viral therapy has potential beneficial effects after the curative treatment of HBV‐related hepatocellular carcinoma in terms of tumour recurrence, liver‐related mortality and overall survival. Anti‐viral therapy should be considered after curative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Summary
Background
Decompensated liver disease due to portal hypertension leads to significant morbidity and mortality. Statins can modulate intrahepatic vascular tone, but the clinical significance ...remains uncertain.
Aim
To determine the effects of statin use on the risk of liver decompensation and death among patients with chronic viral hepatitis.
Methods
We conducted a population wide cohort study using a hospital based database from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Adults with chronic viral hepatitis without prior liver decompensation were identified from 2000 to 2012 by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, diagnostic codes. Statin use was defined as a cumulative defined daily dose of >28. Landmark analysis was used to overcome immortal time bias. Propensity score weighting was further performed to minimise baseline confounders. Primary outcome was a composite of portal hypertension related liver decompensation events, with adjustment for death as a competing risk.
Results
A total of 69 184 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (2053 statin users and 67 131 statin non‐users) were identified for the 2‐year landmark analysis. After propensity score weighting of 23 baseline covariates, statin use was associated with a significant reduction in composite liver decompensation events (HR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.36‐0.83; P = .005), ascites (HR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.36‐0.92; P = .02), and a dose‐dependent decrease in death (HR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.76‐0.99; P = .035) relative to no statin use.
Conclusions
Patients with chronic viral hepatitis who used statins have a reduced risk of liver decompensation and death compared to non‐users in this propensity score weighted landmark analysis.
Intron retention (IR) is widely recognized as a consequence of mis-splicing that leads to failed excision of intronic sequences from pre-messenger RNAs. Our bioinformatic analyses of transcriptomic ...and proteomic data of normal white blood cell differentiation reveal IR as a physiological mechanism of gene expression control. IR regulates the expression of 86 functionally related genes, including those that determine the nuclear shape that is unique to granulocytes. Retention of introns in specific genes is associated with downregulation of splicing factors and higher GC content. IR, conserved between human and mouse, led to reduced mRNA and protein levels by triggering the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway. In contrast to the prevalent view that NMD is limited to mRNAs encoding aberrant proteins, our data establish that IR coupled with NMD is a conserved mechanism in normal granulopoiesis. Physiological IR may provide an energetically favorable level of dynamic gene expression control prior to sustained gene translation.
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•Conserved intron retention (IR) affects 86 genes during granulopoiesis•IR is linked to reduced splicing factor levels and increased intronic GC content•IR triggers nonsense-mediated decay that reduces protein expression•Preventing IR in Lmnb1 reduces granulocyte numbers and alters nuclear volume
Intron retention coupled to nonsense-mediated decay is important not only for the clearance of aberrant transcripts, but also as a conserved regulatory mechanism limiting the expression of dozens of normal genes during granulocyte differentiation.
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•Preferential dissolution of lignin in 5 deep eutectic solvents (DESs).•TGA data shows DES are stable at 100°C–160°C, typical for biomass processing.•Pretreatment of loblolly pine by ...a DES gives glucose yield 7× that of controls.•Bulk density of DES-pretreated product is 40% higher than raw pine’s density.
An environmentally-friendly method to separate cellulose and hemicelluloses from lignin in recalcitrant biomass for subsequent conversion is desirable to reduce greenhouse gas generation. Easily-prepared, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have low volatility, wide liquid range, non-flammability, nontoxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. This study shows the DESs (formic acid:choline chloride, lactic acid:choline chloride, acetic acid:choline chloride, lactic acid:betaine, and lactic acid:proline) to be capable of preferentially dissolving lignin at 60°C. Thermogravimetric analysis show DES to be stable at typical biomass processing temperatures. Pretreating loblolly pine in one DES increased glucose yield after enzymatic hydrolysis to more than seven times that of raw or glycerol-pretreated pine. The density of DES-pretreated biomass was found to be 40% higher than the untreated pine’s density.
Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms from 1998 through 2002, this paper documents that listed firms prop up earnings by using abnormal related sales to their controlling owners. Such related ...sales propping is more prevalent among state-owned firms and in regions with weaker economic institutions. We also find that these abnormal related sales are not entirely accrual-based but can be cash-based as well, and they serve as a substitute rather than complement to accruals management for meeting earnings targets. Since these abnormal related sales can be cash-based, there is significant cash transfer via related lending from listed firms back to controlling owners after the propping. However, no cash transfer via related lending is found to be associated with accruals earnings management.
This paper tests the proposition that politicians and their affiliated firms (i.e., firms operating in their province) temporarily suppress negative information in response to political incentives. ...We examine the stock price behavior of Chinese listed firms around two visible political events—meetings of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and promotions of high-level provincial politicians—that are expected to asymmetrically increase the costs of releasing bad news. The costs create an incentive for local politicians and their affiliated firms to temporarily restrict the flow of negative information about the companies. The result will be fewer stock price crashes for the affiliated firms during these event windows, followed by an increase in crashes after the event. Consistent with these predictions, we find that the affiliated firms experience a reduction (an increase) in negative stock return skewness before (after) the event. These effects are strongest in the three-month period directly preceding the event, among firms that are more politically connected, and when the province is dominated by faction politics and cronyism. Additional tests document a significant reduction in published newspaper articles about affected firms in advance of these political events, suggestive of a link between our observed stock price behavior and temporary shifts in the listed firms' information environment.
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