Association of food intake with a risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease:a cross-sectional study

Background:Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD)is a common liver disease,the risk of which can be increased by poor diet.The objective of this study was to evaluate the associations between food items and MAFLD,and to propose reasonable dietary recommendations for the prevention of MAFLD.Methods:Physical examination data were collected from April 2015 through August 2017 at Nanping First Hospital(n=3,563).Dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire.The association between food intake and the risk of MAFLD was assessed by using the inverse probability weighted propensity score.Results:Beverages(soft drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages)and instant noodles were positively associated with MAFLD risk,adjusting for smoking,drinking,tea intake,and weekly hours of physical activity[adjusted odds ratio(ORadjusted):1.568;P=0.044;ORadjusted:4.363;P=0.001].Milk,tubers,and vegetables were negatively associated with MAFLD risk(ORadjusted:0.912;P=0.002;ORadjusted:0.633;P=0.007;ORadjusted:0.962;P=0.028).In subgroup analysis,the results showed that women[odds ratio(OR):0.341,95%confidence interval(CI):0.172–0.676]had a significantly lower risk of MAFLD through consuming more tubers than men(OR:0.732,95%CI:0.564–0.951).Conclusions:These findings suggest that reducing consumption of beverages(soft drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages)and instant noodles,and consuming more milk,vegetables,and tubers may reduce the risk of MAFLD.

Association between Hepatitis B virus and gastric cancer:A systematic review and meta-analysis

An increasing number of studies are suggesting that hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection may be associated with an increased risk of not only hepatocellular carcinoma but also gastric cancer(GC).Whether HBV infection can be a risk factor for GC remains to be explored.In this study,we systematically searched for all eligible literature in 7 databases(China National Knowledge Infrastructure,WanFang,China Science and Technology Journal,PubMed,Cochrane Library,Web of Science and Embase).Eligible studies were required to have a case-control or cohort design.Sixteen studies were included and a meta-analysis was performed using Stata version 17.0.The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.The association between HBV infection and risk of GC was quantified by calculating the odds ratio and 95%confidence interval.The proportion of high-quality studies was 87.5%(14/16).The risk of GC was higher when HBV infection was present than when it was not(combined odds ratio 1.29,95%confidence interval 1.16-1.44;I^(2)=62.7%,p<0.001).The results of subgroup analyses were consistent with the main results.In conclusion,this systematic review and meta-analysis identified a positive association between HBV infection and an increased risk of GC.

Hepatoprotective drugs for prevention of liver injury resulting from anti-tuberculosis treatment:A meta-analysis of cohort studies

Background:The incidence of liver injury caused by anti-tuberculous(TB)drugs is very high.However,owing to a lack of sufficient evidence,preventive use of hepatoprotective drugs is not yet recommended.Therefore,we aimed to assess the protective effect of hepatoprotective drugs for anti-TB drug-induced liver injury.Methods:We conducted a literature search in China Biology Medicine disc,China National Knowledge Infras-tructure,WanFang,Chinese Scientific and Technological Journal,PubMed,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,and Embase.We performed meta-analysis using R 4.0 and Review Manager 5.3 software.Results:A total of 18 studies involving 3589 patients from 2 groups were included.Use of hepatoprotective drugs contributed to a lower incidence of liver injury as compared with conventional anti-TB treatment alone(relative risk[RR]=0.39,95%confidence interval[CI]:0.28-0.53,p<0.001).In subgroup analysis,significant protective effects were noted for mild liver injury(RR=0.30,95%CI 0.15-0.58),moderate(or severe)liver injury(RR=0.35,95%CI 0.19-0.65),and liver injury within 2-4 weeks(RR=0.37,95%CI 0.19-0.71).We also found a statistically significant difference in the incidence of drug withdrawal(RR=0.58,95%CI 0.34-0.97,p=0.040).Conclusions:Our results demonstrate that hepatoprotective drugs are effective in preventing liver injury in pa-tients receiving anti-TB treatment,to some extent.