Schistosomiasis and hepatopulmonary syndrome: the role of concomitant liver cirrhosis

Respiratory morbidity in Schistosoma mansoni infection: a rapid review of literature

Background

Schistosomiasis contributes to 2.5 million disability-adjusted life years globally. Acute and chronic respiratory morbidity of Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) is poorly documented in the literature. We conducted a rapid literature review of the burden of respiratory symptoms and lung function abnormalities among patients with S. mansoni. We also report the immunologic and lung imaging findings from the studies reviewed.

Methods

We carried out a comprehensive literature search in Embase and MEDLINE from the inception of the databases to 13th March 2023.

Results

A total of 2243 patients with S. mansoni were reported from 24 case reports, 11 cross-sectional studies, 7 case series, 2 cohort studies and 2 randomized controlled trials. The prevalence of any respiratory symptom was 13.3-63.3% (total number of patients studied, n = 149). The prevalence of the individual symptoms among patients with S. mansoni in whom respiratory symptoms were sought for was as follows: cough (8.3-80.6%, n = 338), dyspnea (1.7-100.0%, n = 200), chest pain (9.0-57.1%, n = 86), sputum production (20.0-23.3%, n = 30) and wheezing (0.0 - 20.0%, n = 1396). The frequency of the symptoms tended to be higher in acute schistosomiasis. Restrictive lung disease was prevalent in 29.0% (9/31). The commonest chest imaging findings reported were nodules (20-90%, n = 103) and interstitial infiltrates (12.5-23.0%, n = 89). Peripheral blood eosinophilia was prevalent in 72.0-100.0% of patients (n = 130) with acute schistosomiasis and correlated with symptoms and imaging abnormalities. Three case reports in chronic S. mansoni reported elevated C-reactive protein, leucocyte, neutrophil and absolute eosinophil counts, eosinophil percentage, IgE and IgG4.

Conclusion

There is a high prevalence of respiratory morbidity among patients with S. mansoni, particularly in the acute stage of the infection, although the studies are relatively small. Larger studies are needed to characterize respiratory morbidity in chronic schistosomiasis and determine the underlying clinical and immunological mechanisms.

Noninvasive predictors of esophageal varices in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni

BACKGROUND

No previous study have evaluated transient elastography for predicting esophageal varices in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.

AIM

To investigate noninvasive methods of predicting esophageal varices in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni.

METHODS

Cross-sectional multicentric study included 51 patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis. Patients underwent ultrasonography-dopplerfluxometry, upper endoscopy, complete blood cell count and transient elastography (Fibroscan®) for liver and spleen stiffness measurement (LSM and SSM). Noninvasive scores previously established for cirrhotic population were studied: platelet count to spleen diameter ratio (PSR), LSM-spleen diameter to platelet ratio score (LSPS) and varices risk score (VRS). We proposed a version of LSPS and VRS by replacing LSM with SSM and named them SSPS and modified-VRS, respectively.

RESULTS

Esophageal varices were detected in 42 (82.4%) subjects. Individuals with varices presented higher SSM (73.5 vs 36.3 Kpa, p = 0.001), splenic vein diameter (10.8 vs 8.0 mm, p = 0.017), SSPS (18.7 vs 6.7, p = 0.003) and modified-VRS (4.0 vs 1.4, p = 0.013), besides lower PSR (332 vs 542, p = 0.038), than those without varices. SSPS was independently associated with varices presence (OR=1.19, 95%CI 1.03-1.37, p = 0.020) after multivariate analysis. In a model excluding noninvasive scores, SSM was independently associated with varices diagnosis (OR=1.09, 95%CI 1.03-1.16, p = 0.004). AUROC was 0.856 (95%CI 0.752-0.961, p = 0.001) for SSM and 0.816 (95%CI 0.699-0.932, p = 0.003) for SSPS (p = 0.551).

CONCLUSIONS

Spleen-related variables were predictors of esophageal varices: SSM, splenic vein diameter, SSPS, modified-VRS and PSR. Multivariate models indicated that SSM and SSPS are useful tools for predicting varices in non-cirrhotic portal hypertension by hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and may be used in clinical practice.

Prediction of minimal hepatic encephalopathy by using an radiomics nomogram in chronic hepatic schistosomiasis patients

Objective

To construct an MR-radiomics nomogram to predict minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) in patients with chronic hepatic schistosomiasis (CHS).

Methods

From July 2017 to July 2020, 236 CHS patients with non-HE (n = 140) and MHE (n = 96) were retrospective collected and randomly divided into training group and testing group. Radiomics features were extracted from substantia nigra-striatum system of a brain diffusion weighted images (DWI) and combined with clinical predictors to build a radiomics nomogram for predicting MHE in CHS patients. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the predicting performance in training group and testing group. The clinical decisive curve (CDC) was used to assess the clinical net benefit of using radiomics nomogram in predicting MHE.

Results

Low seralbumin (P < 0.05), low platelet count (P < 0.05) and high plasma ammonia (P < 0.05) was the significant clinical predictors for MHE in CHS patients. The AUC, specificity and sensitivity of the radiomics nomogram were 0.89, 0.90 and 0.86 in the training group, and were 0.83, 0.85 and 0.75 in the training group. The CDC analysis showed clinical net benefits for the radiomics nomogram in predicting MHE.

Conclusions

The radiomics nomogram combining DWI radiomics features and clinical predictors could be useful tool to predict MHE in CHS patients.

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is usually neglected clinically in chronic hepatic schistosomiasis (CHS) patients. The diffusion change in substantia nigra-striatum system of MHE patients has been reported. We hypothesized that the change could be better detected by DWI-based radiomics. A radiomics nomogram combining radiomics and clinical predictors of MHE was built to predict MHE in CHS patients. The results demonstrate that the radiomics nomogram would be useful for predicting MHE in CHS patients.

Liver stiffness is able to differentiate hepatosplenic Schistosomiasis mansoni from liver cirrhosis and spleen stiffness may be a predictor of variceal bleeding in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis

BACKGROUND

Ultrasonography is limited for differentiating portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis from that secondary to hepatosplenic schistosomiasis (HSS). We aimed to investigate the role of transient elastography (TE) in differentiating HSS mansoni from cirrhosis and the factors associated with liver and spleen stiffness (LS and SS) in HSS.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted including patients with HSS mansoni (n=29) and liver cirrhosis due to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (n=23). All patients underwent TE and those with HSS were assessed by the Niamey protocol.

RESULTS

HSS subjects presented lower median LS (9.6 vs 21.3 Kpa, p<0.001) and liver controlled attenuation parameter (229 vs 274 dB/m, p=0.010) than cirrhosis subjects, in addition to higher SS (73.5 vs 42.2 Kpa, p=0.002). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for detecting cirrhosis by LS was 0.947 (95% CI 0.89 to 1.00, p<0.001), with an optimal cut-off of 11.75 Kpa. In HSS subjects, higher SS was associated with the presence of the following: diabetes mellitus (p=0.036), metabolic syndrome (p=0.043), esophageal varices (p=0.001), portal vein thrombosis (p=0.047) and previous variceal bleeding (p=0.011). In HSS patients without portal vein thrombosis, variceal bleeding was associated with higher SS (p=0.018). Niamey categories were not associated with LS (p=0.676) or SS (p=0.504).

CONCLUSION

TE can play a role in differentiating HSS from cirrhosis, especially by LS. SS may be further investigated for predicting complications in HSS.

BDNF gene polymorphism and serum level correlate with liver function in patients with hepatitis B-induced cirrhosis

We investigate the correlation of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level and its gene polymorphism with liver function classification in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) induced liver cirrhosis. A total of 182 patients with HBV induced liver cirrhosis were collected as a case group, and 186 healthy subjects in the same period were used as the control group. ELISA measured serum BDNF levels. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to detect rs6265 (A/G) and rs10835210 (A/C) in the BDNF gene. The serum BDNF level was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group. With the elevation of Child-Pugh classification in patients with HBV induced liver cirrhosis, the decrease trend of serum BDNF level was even lower. The difference in frequency distribution between the case group and the control group was statistically significant regarding GG, GA, and AA genotypes, as well as G and A alleles in rs6265 (all P < 0.05). The frequency distribution of genotypes and alleles of rs6265 was statistically different in HBV induced liver cirrhosis patients with different liver function grades (P < 0.05). In patients with HBV induced liver cirrhosis, the AA genotype of BDNF gene rs6265 had the lowest level of serum BDNF. Our study suggests that serum BDNF plays an important role in the grading and early diagnosis of liver function in patients with HBV-induced liver cirrhosis, and AA genotype at rs6265 of BDNF gene is a negative factor for liver cirrhosis. Moreover, the polymorphism of this locus could affect the serum BDNF level.