Background and Aims: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a worldwide disease with a broad spectrum of symptoms. Though being mild at early stages, further development of MASLD causes steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancers and accompanied diabetes. Discovery of the critical regulators in MASLD progression hold great values in both basic and translational medicine.

Cutting-edge research has expanded our understanding of the macrophage activation programs in liver diseases making this immune cell type a therapeutic target. Clinical data on macrophage infiltration and polarization states have been used to help predict mortality or poor prognosis in patients with liver cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. The latest single-cell and spatial transcriptomics

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an enigmatic, autoimmune disease targeting the small intralobular bile ducts resulting in cholestasis and potentially progression to biliary cirrhosis. Primarily affecting middle-aged women, the diagnosis of PBC is typically straightforward with most patients presenting with cholestatic liver tests and the highly specific anti-mitochondrial antibody. For decades

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by metabolic pathway aberrations, which enable cancer cells to meet their energy demands and accelerate malignant progression. Identifying novel metabolic players governing therapy resistance and self-renewal in HCC is crucial, as these properties are likely responsible for tumor recurrence. Clinical traits and RNA-seq of HCC patients in TCGA were used

Background & Aims: Sarcopenia is highly prevalent in patients with liver cirrhosis and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes including hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Androgen receptor agonists, ARAs, can address these conditions through multimodal mechanisms of action, however their safety and efficacy in patients with cirrhosis have not been well established. Approach & Results: In this multicenter

Background & Aims: Immune system activation along with lipotoxicity due to excessive lipid droplet (LD) accumulation in the liver are key drivers of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by cells that carry biological signals to contribute intercellular communication. But the roles of immune cells-derived EVs in pathogenesis of NASH are unclear. Approach & Results:

Background & Aims: Carvedilol is a non-selective β-blocker (NSBBs) with anti-α1-adrenergic activity, more effective than traditional NSBBs in reducing portal-pressure (HVPG). However, 35%-45% of patients still have insufficient HVPG-decrease. Statins ameliorate endothelial dysfunction, reduce hepatic vascular resistance, and have pleiotropic effects. We investigated whether the addition of simvastatin

Hepatic steatosis, the buildup of neutral lipids in lipid droplets (LDs), is commonly referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) when alcohol or viral infections are not involved. MASLD encompasses simple steatosis and the more severe metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), characterized by inflammation, hepatocyte injury, and fibrosis. Previously

The liver is a highly regenerative organ capable of significant proliferation and remodeling during homeostasis and injury responses. Experiments of nature in rare genetic diseases have illustrated that healthy hepatocytes may have a selective advantage, outcompete diseased cells and result in extensive liver repopulation. This observation has given rise to the concept of therapeutic liver repopulation

Intra-tumor immune infiltration is a crucial element interacting with tumor cells in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). However, its phenotype and related spatial structure remained elusive. To address these limitations, we undertook a comprehensive study combining spatial data (29,632 spots from six samples) and single-cell data (21,158 cells from 35 samples). We identified two distinct infiltration

Background & Aims: Liver transplant (LT) for Transplant Oncology (TO) indications is being slowly adopted worldwide and has been recommended to be incorporated cautiously due to concerns on mid-long term survival and its impact on waiting list. Approach & Results: We conducted four systematic reviews of all series on TO indications (intrahepatic (iCC) and perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (phCC)), liver

Background & Aims: Liver fibrosis is characterized by the progressive scarring of liver tissue. Oxidative stress is a critical causal factor of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and the subsequent liver fibrogenesis, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Cysteine sulfinic acid (Cys-SO2H), a modification of reactive cysteine residues, is a unique form of oxidative response that alters the

Background & Aims: Cut-points for non-invasive tests (NITs) for risk stratification in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were derived from predominantly non-Hispanic populations. It is unknown if these cut-points perform adequately in Hispanic individuals. We assessed the performance characteristics of current NIT cut-points among Hispanic patients and determined whether

Background: Diagnosis code classification is a common method for cohort identification in cirrhosis research, but it is often inaccurate and augmented by labor-intensive chart review. Natural language processing (NLP) using large language models (LLMs) is a potentially more accurate method. To assess LLMs’ potential for cirrhosis cohort identification, we compared code-based versus LLM-based classification

Cirrhosis is a prevalent condition affecting more than 100 million people globally and carrying significant morbidity and mortality related to the development of portal hypertension and hepatic decompensation. Current treatment is primarily targeted at identifying chronic liver disease early and preventing the progression of fibrosis by treating the underlying etiology of liver disease. Treatment options

Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection afflicts around 50 million people globally, causing ~250,000 deaths yearly. An effective vaccine needs to overcome high viral diversity and HCV’s ability to evade neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). Rapid antigenic drift in the N-terminal motif of envelope protein E2, named hypervariable region 1 (HVR1), is critically involved in NAb evasion