Prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver disease in Chengdu,Southwest China

BACKGROUND:Fatty liver disease(FLD)is increasingly recognized as one of the most common chronic liver diseases in China.This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of FLD in Chengdu,Southwest China,and to provide a relevant basis for the prevention and intervention of FLD. METHODS:Altogether 9094 subjects(4721 men and 4373 women)of over 18 years old who had received a medical checkup in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January and December 2007 were evaluated for FLD.FLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography.Body mass index(BMI),height,body weight,blood pressure,fasting plasma glucose(FPG),triglycerides(TG),total cholesterol (TCh),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were measured using routine laboratory methods. RESULTS:The overall prevalence of FLD was 12.5%,which was more than 3-fold higher in males than in females (18.9%vs.5.7%,χ2=359.624,P<0.001).The prevalence increased with age in females and males of less than 50 years.The prevalence of alcoholic,suspected alcoholic,and non-alcoholic FLD was 2.6%,3.6%,and 6.3%,respectively. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that 10 factors (male sex,age,BMI,FPG,hypertension,TG,TCh,HDL-C, LDL-C,and ALT abnormalities)were closely related to FLD. In heavy drinkers,obesity increased the risk of FLD by 23.78-fold(95%CI,10.22-55.33),but heavy drinking was only associated with a 2-fold(95%CI,1.50-2.66)increased risk in obese subjects.CONCLUSIONS:The prevalence of FLD among a health- checkup population in Chengdu,Southwest China was lower than the published for other areas of China.FLD in Chengdu adults was found to be closely associated with sex, age,BMI,and other metabolic syndrome features.

Application of hepatitis B virus replication mouse model

AIM:To evaluate the value of the hepatitis B virus(HBV) replication mouse model with regard to several aspects of the study of HBV biology.METHODS:To evaluate the HBV replication mouse model in detecting the efficacy of anti-HBV agents,the interferon inducer polyinosinic-polytidylin acid(polyIC) and nucleotide analogues adefovir and entecavir were administered to mice injected with wild type pHBV4.1,and the inhibiting effect of these agents on HBV DNA replication was evaluated.To identify the model's value in a replication ability study of HBV drug-resistant mutants and a HBx-minus mutant,telbivudine resistance mutants(rtM204I,ayw subtype),adefovir resistance mutants(rtA181V + rtN236T,ayw subtype) and HBxminus mutants were injected respectively,and their corresponding HBV DNA replication intermediates in mouse liver were assessed.RESULTS:Compared with the wild type HBV replication mouse model without antiviral agent treatment,the HBV DNA replication intermediates of the polyICtreated group were decreased 1-fold;while in the entecavir-and adefovir-treated groups,the levels of HBV DNA replication intermediates were inhibited 13.6-fold and 1.4-fold,respectively.For the mouse models injected with telbivudine resistance mutant,adefovir resistance mutant and HBx-minus mutant,HBV DNA replication intermediates could still be detected,but the levels of HBV DNA replication intermediates of these mutants decreased 4.5-fold,5.6-fold and 2.9-fold respectively,compared with the mouse model with wild type HBV plasmid.CONCLUSION:The HBV replication mouse model we established was a useful and convenient tool to detect the efficacy of antiviral agents and to study the replication ability of HBV mutants in vivo.