Previous studies showed that tumors are associated with the increased inflammatory burden and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is also associated with inflammatory conditions. However, there is no review on the role of NLR in meningioma. The goal of this study was to see if NLR has any prognostic and diagnostic value in meningioma. The search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to 3 August 2023. A total of 23 studies were included in the systematic review, of which 13 were included in the meta-analysis. It was found that patients with high-grade meningioma had higher levels of NLR compared to those with low-grade meningioma (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.21–1.23, p = 0.006)]. In addition, we found that there was no difference between NLR levels of patients with meningioma and those with gliomas (SMD, −0.19, 95% CI: −0.47–0.10, p = 0.20). Also, higher levels of NLR were found in patients with meningioma compared with healthy controls (SMD = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.24–0.88, p = 0.01). Studies showed that an NLR > 2.4 differentiated high-grade and low-grade meningioma, an NLR > 2.74 differentiated high and low progression-free survival groups, and an NLR > 2.59 was associated with recurrence, with high sensitivity and specificity. However, the NLR did not predict postoperative pneumonia following meningioma resection. Because of the contradiction, our study did not clearly demonstrate the difference in NLR levels in meningioma and other pathologies, so more studies are needed on this subject. NLR had significant diagnostic and prognostic value in meningioma. In general, we inferred a strong link between systemic inflammation assessed by NLR and meningioma, based on elevated levels of NLR in patients with meningioma compared to healthy controls. In addition, NLR had significant predictive potential for the progression and recurrence of meningioma. The predictive potential increased when combined with other diagnostic tools such as fibrinogen level. NLR may guide clinical decision making as an inflammatory marker and its relationship to therapeutic efficacy. Full article

Tuberculosis remains a global health concern, and its treatment usually involves potent first-line antitubercular drugs which are tempered by the risk of associated hepatotoxicity leading to noncompliance and drug resistance. In this review, medicinal plants with the potential of protection against antitubercular drug-induced hepatotoxicity in animal models were explored from scientific literatures. From literature published between 1999 and 2022, this review systematically extracted 68 studies that reported on medicinal plants with protection against antitubercular drug-induced liver toxicity in animal models. Isoniazid, pyrazinamide, rifampicin, and etambutol were the first-line drugs reported in the reviewed studies. The liver enzymes, antioxidant status, inflammatory markers, and improvement in the liver architecture were the criteria most frequently used by the reported studies to access hepatoprotection. These plants are rich in bioactive phytochemicals which exhibit their hepatoprotective properties via mechanisms such as antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory effects, and detoxification enhancement. This review provides the hepatoprotective properties and mode of action of medicinal plants and encourages future perspectives marked by rigorous scientific research, clinical trials, and integrative medicine approaches. Albeit the challenges of standardization of herbal formulation, safety concerns and hurdles of the regulatory framework must be addressed as traditional medicinal plants offer a promise to mitigate antitubercular drug hepatotoxicity. Full article

Our capacity to recognize and manage allosensitized transplant recipients and optimize organ allocation has been greatly improved by the development of single-antigen bead tests for detecting human leukocyte antigen antibodies. The main drawbacks of this technology have been thoroughly discussed in the literature, covering problems like artifacts that result in nonspecific background, variability, lack of uniformity, and difficulties in data interpretation. Consequently, it is not always easy to understand single-antigen bead data. This review will discuss the interpretation of donor-specific antibody data while considering the associated technical limitations. To ensure the correct clinical application of this test and to enhance the quality of antibody data used to support published clinical research in the era of epitope-based computational matching algorithms, a detailed understanding of the single-antigen bead assay is necessary. Full article

To facilitate the achieving of the goal of “eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030” set by the World Health Organization, the Chinese Society of Hepatology together with the Chinese Society of Infectious Diseases (both are branches of the Chinese Medical Association) organized a panel of experts and updated the guidelines for prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B in China (version 2022). With the support of available evidence, this revision of the guidelines focuses on active prevention, large scale testing, and expansion of therapeutic indication of chronic hepatitis B with the aim of reducing the hepatitis B related disease burden. Full article

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that is often diagnosed when affected individuals die with respiratory failure. Currently, there are few bibliometrics studies on ALS. In this study, a comprehensive literature search using the PubMed, WangFang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical databases was conducted. The Core Collection database for scientific output related to ALS from 1990 to 2022 was also searched. The retrieved dataset was analyzed using. Bibliometrix. A total of 12,450 articles published since 1990 were retrieved, and 243 articles were included in this study. Thirty-two countries contributed to ALS research, among which Italy had the dominant position with the highest number of publications. In addition, keyword co-occurrence was analyzed. As the three indirect subjects of this article, the sources, affiliations, as well as authors of the study were included in the analysis. In recent years, ALS research has made some progress in terms of elucidating the mechanism of the disease and providing clinical treatment, but the results are concentrated in the United States and European countries. For more complicated research results, critical analysis must be performed. Full article

Patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR), the majority of which is ischemic, often have atherosclerotic ascending aorta and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. In these patients, restrictive mitral annuloplasty is associated with a high rate of MR recurrence, aortic cross-clamping increases the stroke rate, and cardioplegic arrest increases postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. To avoid these complications, beating heart mitral valve replacement without aortic cross-clamping has been proposed. Here, we describe two male patients, aged 71 and 54 years, with severe SMR and low left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) (24% and 30%, respectively). Beating-heart mitral valve replacement with total chordal sparing was performed without aortic cross-clamping through a full sternotomy. Weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass was easily achieved without use of inotropes. The duration of mechanical ventilation (3 and 6 hours, respectively) and intensive care (24 and 48 hours, respectively) was short. Neither patient presented with postoperative neurological disorders. After a mean follow-up of 66 months, both patients were asymptomatic, without prosthetic valve dysfunction, and their LVEF reached 42% and 51%, respectively. This cases study indicates that for patients with SMR with impaired LV function who are at high risk for cardioplegic arrest, clampless beating heart mitral valve replacement with total preservation of the subvalvular apparatus could reduce stroke incidence, preserve peri-operative LVEF, and allow reverse LV remodeling. Full article