Efficacy of thymosin alpha-1 and interferon alpha in treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B:A randomized controlled study

AIM： To observe the efficiency and safety of thymosin-α1 treatment in patients with hepatitis B e antigen （HBeAg） and HBV DNA positive chronic hepatitis. METHODS： Sixty-two patients were randomly divided into groups A and B. The patients in group A received subcutaneous injection of 1.6 mg thymosin-α1, twice a week （T-α1 group） for six months, and the patients in group B received 5 MU interferon alpha （IFN-α） each day for fifteen days, then three times weekly （IFN-α group） for six months. The results between two groups treated with and the group untreated with IFN-α which was followed up for 12 mo （historical control group consisting of 30 patients） were compared, and three groups were comparable between each other （P 〉 0.05） at baseline （age, sex, clinical history, biochemical, and serological parameters）. RESULTS： At the end of treatment, complete response, which was defined as alanine aminotransferase （ALT） normalization and HBV DNA and HBeAg loss, occurred in 9 of 29 （31.0%） patients in the T-α1 group and in 15 of 33 （45.5%） patients in the IFN-α group （χ^2= 1.36, P 〉 0.05）. After a follow-up period of six months, a complete response was observed in 14 of 29 （48.3%） patients in the T-α1 group and in 9 of 33 （27.3%） patients in the IFN-α group （χ^2= 2.93, P 〉 0.05）. Compared with the results observed in the historical control （HC） group untreated with IFN-α which was followed up for 12 mo, the rate of complete response was significantly higher in IFN-α group at the end of therapy （1 of 30 vs 15 of 33, 7：2 = 14.72, P 〈 0.001） and in the T-α1 group at the end of follow-up （1 of 30 vs 14 of 29,χ^2 = 15.71, P 〈 0.001）. In T-α1 and IFN-α treatment groups, the area under （the plasma concentration time） curve （AUC） of negative HBV DNA and HBeAg was 340, 17%, 31% and 19% smaller than that in the HC group. By the end of the follow-up period, the proportions of ALT normalization and negative HBV DNA in the T-α1 group were significantly higher than those in the IFN-α and HC groups. The odds of ALT normalization and negative HBV DNA at the end of the follow-up was three-fold higher in the T-α1 group than in the IFN-α group. Unlike IFN-α, T-α1 was well tolerated by all patients, and no side effects appeared in T-α1 group. CONCLUSION： The results suggest that a 6-too course of T-α1 therapy is effective and safe in patients with chronic hepatitis B. T-α1 is able to reduce HBV replication in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Furthermore, T-α1 is better tolerated than IFN-α and can gradually induce more sustained ALT normalization and HBV DNA and HBeAg loss. However, a response rate of 48.3% is still less ideal. A more effective therapeutic approach warrants further study.

Vector meson effects on multi-Skyrmion states from the rational map ansatz

The roles of the lightest vector mesons ρ and ω in the multi-Skyrmion states are studied using the hidden local symmetry approach up to the next-to-leading order,including the homogeneous Wess-Zumino terms.The low-energy constants in the effective field theory are determined using the Sakai-Sugimoto model and the flat-space five-dimensional Yang-Mills action.With only two inputs,m_(ρ) and f_(π),it is possible to determine all low-energy constants without ambiguity.The vector meson effects can be investigated by sequentially integrating vector mesons,and their geometry can be elucidated by comparing the results using the low-energy constants estimated from the Sakai-Sugimoto model and the flat-space five-dimensional Yang-Mills action.We found that theρmeson reduces the masses of the multi-Skyrmion states and increases the overlaps of their constituents,whereas theωmeson repulses the constituents of the multi-Skyrmion states and increases their masses.Therefore,these vector mesons are crucial in the Skyrme model approach to nuclei.We also found that the warping factor,an essential element in the holographic model of QCD,affects the properties of the multi-Skyrmion states and cannot be ignored.

Pseudoconformal equation of state in compact-star matter from topology change and hidden symmetries of QCD

We construct a new effective field theory approach to the equation of state(EoS), dubbed pseudo-confomal model 'PCM', for nuclear and compact star matter entirely in terms of effective hadron degrees of freedom. The possible transition at n ^(2-4)n0(where n0 is the normal nuclear matter density) from hadron degrees of freedom to strongly-coupled quark degrees of freedom,giving rise to a soft-to-hard changeover in the EoS that can accommodate the massive stars observed, is effectuated by the topology change at n1/2>~ 2n0 from skyrmions to half-skyrmions without involving local order-parameter fields. The mechanism exploits possible emergence of hidden scale and local symmetries of QCD at high density, leading to a precocious 'pseudo-conformal'sound velocity vs2= 1/3(in unit of c = 1) for n>~ 3n0. The resulting prediction signals a drastic departure from standard nuclear many-body theory in the density regime involved in the massive stars. We suggest that the tidal deformability implemented in gravitational waves coming from coalescing neutron stars in LIGO/Virgo-type observations could pin down the location of the topology change density n1/2.

Topological Dark Matter from the Theory of Composite Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

The lightest electroweak baryon as a topological object is investigated by using a general effective Lagrangian of composite electroweak symmetry breaking and the spin-independent electroweak baryon-nucleon scattering cross section is calculated. We explicitly show the masses of the electroweak baryons and the cross section as functions of the Peskin-Takeuchi S parameter and the ratio of the masses of axial-vector and vector composite bosons. We find that it is acceptable to regard the electroweak baryon as a dark matter candidate and the even number of technicolor is favored.

Chiral effective Lagrangian for excited heavy-light mesons from QCD

We derive the chiral effective Lagrangian for excited heavy-light mesons from QCD under proper approximations.We focus on the chiral partners with j_(l)^(P)=3+/2 and j_(l)^(P)=3-/2 which amounts to(1^(+),2^(+))and(1^(-),2^(-))states respectively.The low energy constants including the masses of the chiral partners are calculated.The calculated spectrum for the excited mesons are found roughly consistent with experimental data.In addition,our results indicate that quantum numbers of B_(J)(5970)can be identified with 1^(-)or 2^(-).