Histopathological evaluation of long-term tenofovir disoproxil fumarate treatment in patients with hepatitis be antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B

Therapeutic modulation of V Set and Ig domain-containing 4 (VSIG4) signaling in immune and inflammatory diseases

Inflammation is the result of acute and chronic stresses, caused by emotional or physical trauma, or nutritional or environmental pollutants, and brings serious harm to human life and health. As an important cellular component of the innate immune barrier, the macrophage plays a key role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and promoting tissue repair by controlling infection and resolving inflammation. Several studies suggest that V Set and Ig domain-containing 4 is specifically expressed in tissue macrophages and is associated with a variety of inflammatory diseases. In this paper, we mainly summarize the recent research on V Set and Ig domain-containing 4 structures, functions, function and roles in acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, and provide a novel therapeutic avenue for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, including nervous system, urinary, respiratory and metabolic diseases.

Naïve hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B patients are at risk of carotid atherosclerosis: A prospective study

BACKGROUND

There is an increased risk of atherosclerosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C or human immunodeficiency virus, but there is scarce data on hepatitis B virus infection. The hypothesis of this study is that hepatitis B virus infection increases the risk of carotid plaques and subclinical atherosclerosis in naïve hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative subjects.

AIM

To assess the rate of carotid plaques and subclinical atherosclerosis in naïve HBeAg negative subjects in comparison with a cohort of healthy controls.

METHODS

Prospective case-control collaborative study conducted in two tertiary hospitals. Four hundred and two subjects prospectively recruited at the outpatient clinic were included from May 2016 to April 2017: 201 naïve HBeAg-negative hepatitis B virus-infected [49 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 152 inactive carriers(ICs)] and 201 healthy controls. Anthropomorphic and metabolic measures, liver stiffness and carotid Doppler ultrasound were performed. Subclinical atherosclerosis was established on an intima-media thickness increase of ≥1.2 mm and/or the presence of carotid plaques. Normally distributed quantitative variables were compared with the Student t test and those with a non-normal distribution with the Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical variables were compared between groups using the χ² or Fisher exact test.

RESULTS

Carotid plaques were found more often in CHB (32.7%) than ICs (17.1%) or controls (18.4%) (P = 0.048). Subclinical atherosclerosis was also increased in CHB (40.8%) vsICs (19.1%) or controls (19.4%) (P = 0.003). No differences in the risk of atherosclerosis were observed between controls and ICs. The factors independently associated with the presence of carotid plaques were age [odds ratio(OR) 1.43, P < 0.001] and CHB (OR 1.18, P = 0.004) and for subclinical atherosclerosis, age (OR 1.45, P < 0.001), CHB (OR 1.23, P < 0.001) and diabetes (OR 1.13, P = 0.028). In the subset of young subjects (< 50 years), carotid plaques (12.5% vs 1.1%, P = 0.027) and subclinical atherosclerosis (12.5% vs 2.2%, P = 0.058) were more frequent among CHB than ICs.

CONCLUSION

Untreated HBeAg-negative CHB is an independent risk factor for carotid plaques and subclinical atherosclerosis, while ICs present a similar risk to controls.