Risk factors for the metabolic syndrome components of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia after living donor liver transplantation

Association of Abdominal Aortic Calcification With the Postoperative Metabolic Syndrome Components After Liver Transplantation

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to assess the risk factors for components of metabolic syndrome, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, more than a year after liver transplantation.

METHODS

This study included 164 patients with liver failure secondary to acute and chronic liver disease or hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent liver transplantation between 2000 and 2019. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome components after liver transplantation.

RESULTS

The median follow-up period was 10.5 years. Of the 164 patients who underwent liver transplantation, 144 (87.8%) developed components of metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation. The most common cause of liver failure was hepatitis C virus infection (34.1%). The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma was 36.0%. In univariate analysis, preoperative diabetes mellitus was a significantly more common component of metabolic syndrome than the others. In multivariate analysis, preoperative abdominal aortic calcification was a risk factor for the new onset of all components of metabolic syndrome after liver transplantation, despite the varying degree of calcification at risk of development (odds ratio for diabetes mellitus = 3.487, P = .0069; odds ratio for hypertension = 2.914, P = .0471; odds ratio for dyslipidemia = 3.553, P = .0030).

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative abdominal aortic calcification was significantly associated with the development of each metabolic syndrome component after liver transplantation.

Caution to Poor Adherence With Immunosuppressant Medication That Causes Coma-Onset Autoimmune Encephalitis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Autoimmune encephalitis after liver transplantation (LT) is a rare disorder. This is because patients are usually in an immunosuppressed state after LT. Here, we report a rare case of autoantibody-negative autoimmune-encephalitis-induced coma after living-donor (LD) LT. A 45-year-old woman who underwent LDLT for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) was brought to our hospital with the chief complaint of cognitive deficiency and an episode of memory loss. Physical examination, laboratory tests, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed no significant findings. However, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintensity in the bilateral hippocampus. No autoantibodies associated with autoimmune encephalitis were detected. The diagnosis of antibody-negative autoimmune encephalitis was made on the basis of low immunosuppressive drug levels in the blood (indicative of poor adherence) and the presence of PBC as the autoimmune disease. The patient regained consciousness after intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy and plasma exchange. This case highlights that when examining patients with impaired consciousness after LDLT, it is important to consider autoimmune encephalitis as a potential diagnosis.

A mixed blessing for liver transplantation patients - Rapamycin

BACKGROUND

Liver transplantation (LT) is an effective treatment option for end-stage liver disease. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, such as rapamycin, are widely used post LT.

DATA SOURCES

In this review, we focused on the anti-cancer activities and metabolic side effects of rapamycin after LT. The literature available on PubMed for the period of January 1999-September 2022 was reviewed. The key words were rapamycin, sirolimus, liver transplantation, hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes, and lipid metabolism disorder.

RESULTS

Rapamycin has shown excellent effects and is safer than other immunosuppressive regimens. It has exhibited excellent anti-cancer activity and has the potential in preventing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence post LT. Rapamycin is closely related to two long-term complications after LT, diabetes and lipid metabolism disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

Rapamycin prevents HCC recurrence post LT in some patients, but it also induces metabolic disorders. Reasonable use of rapamycin benefits the liver recipients.

DHDIP: An interpretable model for hypertension and hyperlipidemia prediction based on EMR data

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Traditional hypertension and hyperlipidemia prediction models suffer from uneven modeling data sources, small sample sizes, and a lack of uniform standards for the index system, resulting in the model failing to fulfill clinical applications. To address this issue, this work will offer DHDIP, an interpretable hypertension and hyperlipidemia prediction model based on EMR data.

METHODS

First, we will select massive high-dimensional, unstructured EMR data as a unified modeling data source, and propose a pre-processing algorithm for EMR data to solve the problem that EMR data cannot be directly processed by machine learning algorithms. Second, a variety of mainstream models such as XGBoost, CatBoost, and RandomForest are selected for modeling, and the best adaptation algorithms are identified by performance comparison. Finally, the SHAP framework was introduced into the DHDIP model, thus identifying the main factors contributing to hypertension and hyperlipidemia, effectively enhancing the interpretability of the model.

RESULTS

The DHDIP model's MSE value is 0.0285, and its LOSS value is 0.0054, both of which are better than previous studies.

CONCLUSION

The model balances performance and interpretability. Multi-objective learning allows for a more thorough analysis and prediction of the condition, which not only lowers the cost of disease prediction but also aids physicians in clinical diagnosis. In addition, the datasets and source code are available from this link: https://github.com/Xiaoyao-Jia/DHDIP.

The Antioxidant Activity of Thymus serpyllum Extract Protects against the Inflammatory State and Modulates Gut Dysbiosis in Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice

Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in alternative therapies in the treatment of metabolic syndrome that combine efficacy and safety profiles. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of an extract of Thymus serpyllum, containing rosmarinic acid, on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mice, highlighting the impact of its antioxidant activity on the inflammatory status and gut dysbiosis. The extract was administered daily (50, 100 and 150 mg/kg) in HFD-fed mice. The treatment reduced body weight gain, glucose and lipid metabolic profiles. Moreover, the extract ameliorated the inflammatory status, with the c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JUNK) pathway being involved, and showed a significant antioxidant effect by the reduction of radical scavenging activity and the mitigation of lipid peroxidation. Moreover, the extract was able to modulate the altered gut microbiota, restoring microbial richness and diversity, and augmenting the counts of short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria, which have been associated with the maintenance of gut permeability and weight regulation. In conclusion, the antioxidant activity of Thymus serpyllum extract displayed a positive impact on obesity and its metabolic alterations, also reducing systemic inflammation. These effects may be mediated by modulation of the gut microbiota.

Current status of glucocorticoid usage in solid organ transplantation

Glucocorticoids (GCs) have been the mainstay of immunosuppressive therapy in solid organ transplantation (SOT) for decades, due to their potent effects on innate immunity and tissue protective effects. However, some SOT centers are reluctant to administer GCs long-term because of the various related side effects. This review summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of GCs in SOT. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched from 2011 to April 2021 using search syntaxes covering “transplantation” and “glucocorticoids”. GCs are used in transplant recipients, transplant donors, and organ perfusate solution to improve transplant outcomes. In SOT recipients, GCs are administered as induction and maintenance immunosuppressive therapy. GCs are also the cornerstone to treat acute antibody- and T-cell-mediated rejections. Addition of GCs to organ perfusate solution and pretreatment of transplant donors with GCs are recommended by some guidelines and protocols, to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury peri-transplant. GCs with low bioavailability and high potency for GC receptors, such as budesonide, nanoparticle-mediated targeted delivery of GCs to specific organs, and combination use of dexamethasone with inducers of immune-regulatory cells, are new methods of GC application in SOT patients to reduce side effects or induce immune-tolerance instead of immunosuppression. Various side effects involving different non-targeted organs/tissues, such as bone, cardiovascular, neuromuscular, skin and gastrointestinal tract, have been noted for GCs. There are also potential drug-drug interactions for GCs in SOT patients.

Immunosuppression Free Protocol for Liver Transplant from an Identical Twin Mimicking Positive Donor-Specific Antibodies: A Case Report

There are some reported cases of liver transplant between identical twins with no immunosuppressants because of their matched HLA. However, there is no mention of donor-specific antibodies (DSA). Here, we report a rare case of living donor liver transplant (LDLT) between identical twins, mimicking DSA positivity, on a low-dose immunosuppression protocol. A 57-year-old man with acute liver failure underwent LDLT using the right lobe from his identical twin. Their blood types were identical on HLA matching. However, the preoperative DSA test results were positive for class II antibodies. This was supposed to be due to the relatively large amount of blood transfusion before testing: a total of 580 units of fresh frozen plasma for plasma exchange. The presence of class II antibodies for DSA positivity was the result of the passive immunity from transfusion, and this result could not be ignored, given the risk of rejection. Therefore, we arranged low-dose postoperative immunosuppressants using tacrolimus at a quarter dose and no mycophenolate mofetil. The postoperative course was uneventful. A few months after LDLT, the patient's DSA level was negative for class II antibodies, thus confirming our preoperative hypothesis of DSA as the result of transfusion. Currently, 6 months after LDLT, he is free from immunosuppressive medication with good liver function. When administering relatively large doses of fresh frozen plasma by repeated plasma exchange before LDLT, even between identical twins, it is important to consider that the DSA test could be positive and that immunosuppressive treatment should be performed carefully.

Psychological Continuum of Elderly Patients Suffering from Arterial Hypertension with Metabolic Syndrome, Against the Background of Chronotherapy with a Fixed Combination of Amlodipine, Lisinopril and Rosuvastatin

Aim        To study the psychological continuum in elderly patients with arterial hypertension associated with metabolic syndrome during the chronotherapy with a fixed combination (FC) of amlodipine, lisinopril, and rosuvastatin.Material and methods        In the inpatient conditions, 63 patients aged 60-74 years with arterial hypertension associated with metabolic syndrome were treated with chronotherapy with a FC of amlodipine, lisinopril, and rosuvastatin (5 / 10 / 10 mg/day in the evening). These patients composed the main group. The control group (58 patients aged 60-74 years with arterial hypertension associated with metabolic syndrome) was treated with the FC of amlodipine, lisinopril, and rosuvastatin at the same dose of 5 / 10 / 10 mg/day in the morning.Results   At one year, the disorders of psychological continuum were significantly decreased with the chronotherapy (evening dosing) with the antihypertensive FC of amlodipine, lisinopril, and rosuvastatin compared to the traditional treatment (morning dosing) at the same dose of 5 / 10 / 10 mg/day in both groups. With the chronotherapeutic approach, the dynamic of cognitive disorders in patients aged 60-74 years with arterial hypertension associated with metabolic syndrome was characterized by a significant increase in the Mini-Mental-State-Examination scale score from 17.8±0.3 at baseline to 23.5±0.4 with the evening dosing (р<0.001) vs. the increase from 16.9±0.3 to 20.4±0.4 (р<0.001) with the morning dosing. The situational anxiety score decreased from 40.0±2.2 to 30.6±1.8 (р<0.05) and from 40.8±2.5 to 33.5±1.9  (р<0.05), and the trait anxiety score decreased from 48.8±2.0 to 26.4±1.9 (р<0.001) and from 44.9±1.9 to 30.7±1.7  (р<0.01) with the evening and morning dosing, respectively. Depressive disorders slightly decreased with the chronotherapy by 14.1 % vs. 7.7 % with the traditional regimen; nevertheless, they were consistent with depressive spectrum disorders in both groups.Conclusion            The study results showed a higher effectiveness of the chronotherapeutic treatment compared to the traditional treatment with FC of amlodipine, lisinopril, and rosuvastatin in arterial hypertension with metabolic syndrome.