Considering the increasing prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the development of an effective screening and follow-up system that enables the recognition of etiological changes by primary physicians in clinics and specialists in hospitals is required.

Chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV), NASH, and alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) patients who were assayed for Mac-2-binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) (

= 272) and underwent magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) (

= 119) were enrolled. Patients who underwent MRE were also tested by ultrasound elastography (USE) (

= 80) and for M2BPGi (

= 97), autotaxin (ATX) (

= 62), and platelet count (

= 119), and their fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index was calculated (

= 119).

FIB-4 index >2, excluding HBV-infected patients, M2BPGi >0.5, ATX >0.5, and platelet count <20 × 10

/μL were the benchmark indices, and we took into consideration other risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus and age, to recommend further examinations, such as USE, based on the local situation to avoid overlooking hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the clinic. During specialty care in the hospital, MRE exhibited high diagnostic ability for fibrosis stages >F3 or F4; it could efficiently predict collateral circulation with high sensitivity, which can replace USE. We also identified etiological features and found that collateral circulation in NASH/ASH patients tended to exceed high-risk levels; moreover, these patients exhibited more variation in HCC-associated liver stiffness than the HBV and HCV patients.

Using appropriate markers and tools, we can establish a stepwise, practical, noninvasive, and etiology-based screening and follow-up system in primary and specialty care.

Using appropriate markers and tools, we can establish a stepwise, practical, noninvasive, and etiology-based screening and follow-up system in primary and specialty care.

Commonly used classifications for colorectal lesions (CLs) include the Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) International Colorectal Endoscopic (NICE) and Japan NBI Expert Team (JNET) classifications. However, both lack a sessile serrated adenoma/polyp (SSA/P) category. This has been addressed by the modified Sano’s (MS) and Workgroup serrAted polypS and Polyposis (WASP) classifications. CB1954 chemical structure This study aims to compare the accuracy of wNICE and wJNET (WASP added to both) with the stand-alone MS classification.

Patients undergoing colonoscopy at an Australian tertiary hospital who had at least one CL detected were prospectively enrolled. In the exploratory phase, CLs were characterized in real time with NBI and magnification using all classifications. In the validation phase, CLs were assessed with both NBI and Blue Laser Imaging (BLI) by four external endoscopists in Japan. The primary outcome was the comparison of wJNET and MS. Secondary outcomes included comparisons among all classifications and the calculation of interrater reliability.

A total of 483 CLs were evaluated in real time in the exploratory phase, and four sets of 30 CL images (80 on NBI and 40 on BLI) were scored in the validation phase. For high-confidence diagnoses, MS accuracy was superior to wJNET in both the exploratory (86%

79%,

< 0.05) and validation (85%

69%,

< 0.05) phases. The interrater reliability was substantial for all classifications (

= 0.74, 0.69, and 0.63 for wNICE, wJNET, and MS, respectively).

MS classification achieved the highest accuracy in both the exploratory and validation phases. MS can differentiate serrated and adenomatous polyps as a stand-alone classification.

MS classification achieved the highest accuracy in both the exploratory and validation phases. MS can differentiate serrated and adenomatous polyps as a stand-alone classification.Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) represent a growing unmet medical need and an increasingly prevalent cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and death in Japan. The aim of this review was to characterize the epidemiology of NAFLD and NASH in Japan. An English and Japanese literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and ICHUSHI Web, identifying 6553 studies, 67 of which were included. Prevalence of NAFLD in the Japanese population rose from the early 1990s (12.6-12.9%) to the early 2000s (24.6-34.7% of the population). Japanese NASH prevalence is estimated to be 1.9-2.7%. NAFLD and NASH are more common among males than females; however, females experience more severe disease than males. While obese patients had higher prevalence of NAFLD/NASH, nonobese individuals (body mass index [BMI] 35% of NAFLD and NASH patients. The evidence shows that, despite obesity being linked with worse disease stages, “lean-NASH” also plays an important role in NASH epidemiology. Besides obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome appeared to be reliably associated with disease severity. The prevalence of advanced fibrosis or cirrhotic disease was the highest in patients with NASH-HCC (44-80% with stage F3/F4 disease), while 21-50% of patients with NASH had F3/F4 disease. NAFLD/NASH is common in the Japanese population, and the prevalence of these conditions has tripled in the last two decades. Furthermore, these NAFLD/NASH patients have a high comorbidity burden. Early and efficient identification of safe and effective treatments for NAFLD/NASH patients is urgently needed.In its occult form, hepatitis B virus infection can only be detected using molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, increasing the cost of the screening process. Certain population subgroups are considered to have a higher risk of transmission and reactivation of occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI). This review aims to estimate the prevalence of OBI among these high-risk groups in Sudan. It was conducted under the PRISMA guidelines, targeting the literature available in MEDLINE/PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library databases. Full-text articles published in the last 10 years that provide prevalence estimates of OBI in Sudan were examined for fulfillment of eligibility criteria. Quality assessment of selected articles was performed using the critical appraisal tool reported by Munn et al. Publication bias was assessed by visual examination of the funnel plot. Meta-analysis using the random-effects model with 95% confidence interval was used to calculate the overall and subgroup pooled prevalence of OBI.