Prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy and quality of life evaluations in hospitalized cirrhotic patients in China

AIM:To investigate the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy(MHE)and to assess corresponding health-related quality of life(HRQoL)in hospitalized cirrhotic patients in China.METHODS:This multi-center cross-sectional study included 16 teaching hospitals,which were members of "Hepatobiliary Cooperation Group,Society of Gastroenterology,Chinese Medical Association",from different areas of China carried out between June and October in 2011.All the eligible hospitalized cirrhotic patients(n = 538)were required to complete triplicate number connection tests combined with one digit symbol test for diagnosing MHE.Patients' clinical examination data were complemented by a modified questionnaire assessing HRQoL.Written informed consent was obtained from each patient.RESULTS:Male was predominant(68.6%)in 519 patients who met the criteria of the study,with a mean age of 49.17 ± 11.02 years.The most common cause of liver cirrhosis was chronic hepatitis B(55.9%).The prevalence of MHE was 39.9% and varied by ChildPugh-Classification score(CPC-A:24.8%,CPC-B:39.4% and CPC-C:56.1%,P < 0.01).MHE(P < 0.01)and higher CPC scores(P < 0.01)were associated with a high HRQoL scores(reflecting poorer quality of life).The prevalence of MHE was proportionate to CPC(P = 0.01)and high quality of life scores(P = 0.01).CONCLUSION:Hospitalized cirrhotic patients have a high prevalence of MHE that is proportionate to the degree of liver function and HRQoL impairment.

HIF-1α-1790G>A polymorphism significantly increases the risk of digestive tract cancer:A meta-analysis

AIM:To investigate the association between hypoxiainducible factor-1α(HIF-1α) polymorphisms(-1772C>T and-1790G>A) and the risk of digestive tract cancer.METHODS:A total of 13 eligible studies were retrieved from Pub Med,EMBASE,and the ChinaNational Knowledge Infrastructure database.The odds ratios(ORs) and 95% confidence intervals(CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the associations.RESULTS:By pooling the eligible studies,we found that the HIF-1α-1772C>T polymorphism was not associated with the risk of developing digestive tract cancer(dominant comparison,OR:1.156; 95%CI:0.839-1.593; P heterogeneity = 0.007),and no significant association was found in the Asian population or the Caucasian population.However,for the-1790G>A polymorphism,carriers of the variant-1790 A allele had a significantly increased risk of digestive tract cancer compared with those with the wildtype-1790 G allele(dominant comparison,OR:3.252; 95%CI:1.661-6.368; P heterogeneity < 0.001).Additionally,this increased risk of digestive cancer was only detected in Asians; there was no significant association in Caucasians.CONCLUSION:This meta-analysis demonstrates that the HIF-1α-1790G>A polymorphism is associated with a significantly increased risk of digestive tract cancer,while the-1772C>T polymorphism is not.