Several studies have shown that elevated plasma FGF21 levels are found in subjects with disorders related to obesity and insulin

resistance. We aimed to assess the role of FGF21 as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of NAFLD and/or NASH. Methods: We recruited 204 patients with and 24 without NAFLD (51 ±1 vs.50±3 years [p=0.69], male: 72% vs.58% PI3K Inhibitor Library research buy [p=0.24], 34.1 ±0.3 vs.29.3±1.0 kg/m2 [p<0.01]) and measured: 1)plasma FGF21 and cytokeratin-18 fragments (CK-18) levels, 2) liver fat by magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRS), 3) hepatic insulin resistance index (HIRi=fasting plasma insulin x endogenous glucose production) and adipose EX 527 molecular weight tissue insulin resistance index (ATIR= fasting plasma insulin x free fatty acids), 4) muscle insulin sensitivity (Rd) during a high-dose insulin euglycemic clamp, and 5) liver histology (biopsy) (n=159). Results: Plasma levels of FGF21 were significantly

increased in patients with NAFLD (337 [217-526] vs.153 [92-323] pg/ml, p<0.001). However, FGF21 only showed moderate correlations with liver fat (r=0.26, p<0.001), HIRi (r=0.26, p=0.002), ATIR (r=0.23, p<0.001) and Rd (r=-0.35, p<0.0001). As a stand-alone test for the diagnosis of NAFLD, FGF21 had rather disappointing results. With the optimal cut-off point of 205 pg/ml we obtained a sensitivity of 78% (71-84%) and specificity of 63% (41一81%). Positive and negative predictive values were 94% (89-97%) and 28% (17-42%),

respectively. Patients with NASH had higher levels of FGF21 when compared to patients with simple steatosis on liver biopsy (386 [252-581] vs.328 [170—451] pg/ml, p=0.03). However, correlations between check details FGF21 and NAFLD activity score (r=0.22, p<0.01) and fibrosis stage (r=0.30, p<0.001) were weak. As a tool for the diagnosis of NASH (optimal cut-off point: 376 pg/ml), FGF21 also showed unsatisfactory results, with low sensitivity (53% [43 62%]) and specificity (67% [50 一 81%]). With the combined use of CK-18 and FGF21 for the diagnosis of NASH, sensitivity improved slightly to 57% (49-66%) and specificity to 85% (70-94%). However, these results were similar to the ones of CK-18 alone (sensitivity 46% [38-53%] and specificity 86% [73-95%]). Conclusions: Plasma FGF21 levels were only moderately correlated with different measures of insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis and liver histology. Based on these findings, FGF21 is not a useful stand-alone test (or combined with CK-18) for the diagnosis of NAFLD or NASH.

With commercial lyophilized normal and pathological plasmas VWF: Ag and VWF:RCo assays performed on both analysers exhibited low levels of inter-assay imprecision (AcuStar: CV% range 3.3–6.9; TOP500: CV% range 2.6–6.3). Samples from normal healthy subjects (range: VWF:Ag 44.6–173.9 IU dL−1; VWF:RCo 43.1–191.5 IU dL−1) and patients (range: VWF:Ag <0.3–115.1 IU dL−1; VWF:RCo <0.5–57.2 IU dL−1) showed a good correlation between the two VWF:Ag and VWF:RCo methods (rs = 0.92 and 0.82 respectively), with only a few inconsistent

cases among the patients’ samples evaluated. The chemiluminescent assays had a lower limit of detection for both VWF:Ag and VWF:RCo compared to immunoturbidimetric tests (0.3 IU dL−1 vs. 2.2 IU dL−1 and 0.5 IU dL−1 vs. 4.4 IU dL−1 respectively). The TOP500 and AcuStar VWF:Ag and VWF:RCo assays were precise and compare well between Venetoclax concentration centres, making these systems suitable for the Dinaciclib diagnosis of VWD in non-specialized and

reference laboratories. “
“This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Bleeding patterns and severity of hemophilia Bleeding pattern in severe hemophilia Review of other factors that may influence hemostasis Environmental factors Discussion Conclusion References “
“Summary.  Although individuals with haemophilia have benefited from advances and the availability of safe, effective factor replacement products, high treatment costs and insurance coverage limits remains a significant concern among persons

with this disease. Many uninsured haemophiliacs turn to emergency rooms for treatment and/or patient assistance programmes for treatment of a bleed or injury. However, neither of these options is a sustainable solution for managing the care this website of patients with this costly disease. This study was conducted to examine the use of factor assistance programmes and estimate annual amounts of factor dispensed by each programme along with their associated costs. Retrospective review of pharmacy and medical record of all patients who attended the Gulf States Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center, and who were enrolled in any factor assistance programme(s) between January 2007 and December 2010 was performed. During the 4-year observation period, approximately 19% of the centre’s haemophilia patient population was enrolled and received free factor products from at least one patient assistance programme. In addition, approximately 9.1 million dollars (US) worth of factor replacement therapy was donated to our patients during the study time. Although assistance programmes have helped many uninsured individuals with haemophilia to receive free factor products, they are not an enduring answer to the insurance problems many of our patients face.

Multiple changes have been identified previously in

dolphins during feeding and fasting states. Dolphins fasted overnight have higher serum glucose, platelets, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, and alkaline phosphatase; shifts toward a metabolic acidotic state; and lower serum uric acid compared to those that had recently fed (Venn-Watson and Ridgway 2007). These changes mimicked those found in people with and without diabetes (Androgue et al. 1982, Maxwell et al. 1986, Chitre and Valskar 1988, Andre et al. 2006, Nan et al. 2007). Indeed, dolphins have a diabetes-like metabolism, in which ingested sugars or high-protein fish meals lead to a sustained hyperglycemia lasting 5–10 h (Ridgway et al. 1970, Venn-Watson et al. 2011). Interestingly, endogenous nitric oxide can be impaired in people with diabetes, including reduced nitric oxide Y-27632 availability (Honing et al. 1998). The differences in nitric oxide levels found in the breath of fed vs. fasted dolphins should be further Histone Acetyltransferase inhibitor evaluated to better understand the impacts of the dolphin’s high protein diet and their diabetes-like metabolism.

A primary driver of the current study was to assess the use of breath analysis as a noninvasive indicator of cetacean health, including detection of early stages of pneumonia. In addition to general evaluation of metabolism and lung function, volatiles in the breath have been employed as “fingerprints” for detecting disease in other animal models. Carbon

dioxide, oxygen, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide (and other sulfides), find more acetone and other volatiles may be useful in diagnosis of lung injury and numerous metabolic or infectious diseases (Phillips 1992, Kharitonov et al., 1996, Phillips et al. 2003). The successful detection of NO in exhaled dolphin breath opens the possibility of using NO as a clinically relevant diagnostic test. In this study, a dolphin with chronic disease, including gastrointestinal disease of unconfirmed origin and a Mycoplasma-associated pneumonia, had higher postprandial exhaled NO compared to postprandial breath from healthy controls. There were no differences in exhaled NO, however, when comparing another case dolphin with chronic coccidiodomycosis with healthy controls. Reasons for this difference may be the severity of infection or inflammation, organ systems involved, or pathogen. Further studies are needed to better understand under what conditions NO may successfully detect disease in dolphins and why, in this study, significant differences between the case dolphin and healthy control dolphins were not apparent until postprandial samples were compared. Digestive state and disease detection should be considered when examining dolphins for different diseases. Standardized methodologies for sample collection will continue to be needed if NO in breath is to be used for illness detection and comparability across populations and time.

IL12 is a key candidate for treating malignancies because it is a potent proinflammatory

cytokine, activates T and NK cells, and induces the expression of IFN-γ expression. Although promising in the treatment of malignancies, especially micrometastic lesions, high Gefitinib datasheet toxicity and fatalities were observed in clinical trials mainly due to IFN-γ expression. Therefore, control of excessive induction of IFN-γ may be achieved by using gene therapy instead of an acute dose of recombinant IL12 therapy. Even with gene therapy, a high dose and frequent administrations could trigger liver toxicity; however, IL12-induced toxicity can be prevented or even treated by using IL30, as we discovered in this study. This

observation may be translated to human clinics for safely using IL12 or other proinflammatory cytokine therapy. This conclusion was further supported by the fact that IL30 significantly reduces the ConA-induced liver injury, as reported in this study, and also in agreement with the fact that ConA causes less toxicity in EBI3 knockout mice than in wildtype mice.23, 24 Importantly, multiple lines of evidence from our study suggest that IL30, as an independent cytokine, inhibits IL12-induced liver injury due to the independence of IL27 and EBI3 signaling pathways. This unique discovery reveals that IL30 perhaps is an important therapeutic candidate for preventing not only IL12 and IFN-γ, but other inflammatory cytokine-induced see more liver toxicity. IFN-γ plays a crucial role not only in initiating

innate and adaptive immune responses but also in homeostatic functions that limit inflammation-associated tissue destruction. IFN-γ’s ability to initiate an adaptive immune response is well understood and occurs mainly by way of activation of macrophages and immune cells at the site of inflammation; however, how IFN-γ maintains a crucial role in homeostatic functions is not fully understood. Because IFN-γ administration at the site of the inflammation exacerbates diseases selleck screening library in arthritis and autoimmune diabetes models, yet a lack of IFN-γ seems to enhance the severity of arthritis in the K/BxN model,32 IFN-γ is a key mediator for up-regulation of antiinflammatory cytokines, which are necessary to decrease tissue destruction. So, understanding which particular molecules are signaling downstream of IFN-γ has important therapeutic implications. Our study not only confirms that IFN-γ induces IL30 in vitro but also reveals the biological function of this cytokine. Different from Liu et al.,30 who established that IFN-γ induces IL30 in macrophages in vitro, we found that IL30 is a very potent inhibitor of proinflammatory cytokine-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo.

Among the 664 miRNA species included in the array, 374 miRNAs had expression

detected in more than 50% of the specimens, including 212 miRNAs that were consistently detected in all specimens, and were therefore selected for further investigations. On the other hand, 290 miRNAs with a detection rate less than 50%, including 151 miRNAs that were not detected in any samples tested, were excluded from the study (Supporting Fig. 1A,B). The miRNA expression profiles in the paired nontumorous livers, primary HCCs, and venous metastases were analyzed by unsupervised clustering approach. As shown in Fig. 2, the nontumorous liver samples exhibited a distinct miRNA expression profile and was clearly separated from their corresponding primary HCCs and venous metastases in the clustering analysis. However, the clustering analysis was not able to segregate venous metastases from the primary HCC samples. Primary HCCs and venous metastases from the IWR1 same patients often clustered together, indicating that the miRNA Ibrutinib supplier expression profiles of primary HCCs and corresponding venous metastases were similar. To further investigate the miRNA deregulation in hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis, the expression changes of individual miRNA (i.e., ΔΔCt) were plotted against their statistical significance (P value, paired t test) across different sample groups in volcano diagrams. To maintain the statistical stringency in multiple comparisons,

tests were considered significant when P < 1.34 × 10−4 (based on Bonferroni correction). When comparing 20 pairs of primary HCCs with their corresponding nontumorous liver samples, learn more significant deregulation was observed in 30 miRNAs, 23 of which were significantly down-regulated in primary HCC

samples, and 7 of which were up-regulated (Fig. 3A and Table 1). miR-139-5p and miR-18a were the most significantly down- and up-regulated miRNAs, respectively. These 30 miRNAs, representing the most deregulated miRNAs in primary HCC, could be used as a specific miRNA signature for primary HCC. To determine whether miRNA deregulation contributes to HCC metastatic growth, we compared the miRNA expression levels between paired primary HCCs and venous metastases by volcano plot as described above. However, we found that no miRNA reached the Bonferroni adjusted significance level, indicating that there was no significant deregulation of individual miRNAs between primary HCCs and venous metastasis. However, a global trend of miRNA down-regulation was evidently observed in venous metastases (Fig. 3B). Using a one-sample t test to interrogate the global miRNA expression changes between the nontumorous livers, primary HCC, and venous metastases, we found that venous metastases exhibited a significant global miRNA down-regulation of approximately 0.5ΔΔCt (equivalent to 30% of miRNA expression) when compared with either the nontumorous livers and primary HCCs (P < 0.0001 for each).

PA and TR were involved with the consensus concept and design, acquisition of data, drafting of the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript,

and participation in electronic and face-to-face voting. CK, RP, JM, DS, LP, AS, PP, TA, DR, AM, SP, PK, MR, and MK were involved with drafting of the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript, and participation in electronic and face-to-face voting. TI was involved with drafting of the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript, and participation in electronic voting. NP, ST, SA, BD, HW, EO, DL, and PM were involved with critical revision of the manuscript, and participation MAPK inhibitor in electronic and face-to-face voting. KG and BO were involved with

critical revision of the manuscript and participation in electronic voting. SC and AJ were involved with study supervision and participation in electronic voting. VB was involved with study supervision. Surgeon—Amit Maydeo, Thawatchai Akaraviputh, Thawee Rattanachu-ek, AZD6738 ic50 Vajarabhongsa Bhudhisawasdi Gastroenterologist—Rungsun Rerknimitr, Pises Pisespongsa, Takao Itoi, Christopher J L Khor, Ryan Ponnudurai, Jong H Moon, Dong Wan Seo, Duvvuru Nageshwar Reddy, Apichat Sangchan, Pradermchai Kongkam, Nonthalee Pausawasdi, Siriboon Attasaranya, Dong Ki Lee, Bancha Ovartlarnporn, Suraphol Churnratanakul, Kean-Lee Goh, Benedict Devereaux,

Hsiu-Po Wang, Evan Ong, Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Maylene Kok Diagnostic radiologist—Linda Pantongrag-Brown Interventional radiologist—Sundeep Punamiya, Akkawat Janchai Surgeon—Amit Maydeo, Thawatchai Akaraviputh, Thawee Rattanachu-ek Gastroenterologist—Rungsun Rerknimitr, Pises Pisespongsa, Christopher J L Khor, Ryan Ponnudurai, Jong H Moon, Dong Wan Seo, Apichat Sangchan, Pradermchai Kongkam, Nonthalee Pausawasdi, Siriboon Attasaranya, Dong Ki Lee, Benedict Devereaux, Hsiu-Po Wang, Evan Ong, Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Mohan Ramchandani, Maylene Kok Diagnostic radiologist—Linda Pantongrag-Brown Interventional radiologist—Sundeep Punamiya selleck inhibitor (All face-to-face meeting participants participated in the first two electronic votes) Members of the group were selected by the following criteria: Demonstration of knowledge/expertise in HCCA by publication/research or participate in national or regional guidelines. Geographical representation of the Asia–Pacific countries/region. Diversity of clinical views on management of HCCA (limited to clinicians). Representative countries were Australia, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. Representatives from China, New Zealand, and Indonesia were invited but did not participate.

The cross-sectional imaging patterns of GBC consist of a mass replacing the gallbladder (40%–65% of cases) [pattern A], focal or diffuse wall thickening (20%–30%) Protease Inhibitor Library [pattern B]. In pattern C (15%–25%)—as in the present case—GBC is manifested as a polypoid lesion (usually larger than 1 cm in diameter) with

a thickened implantation base. The differential diagnosis should include adenomatous or cholesterol polyps, carcinoid or melanoma metastasis. It has been reported that conventional MRI with associated Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) and MRCP can disclose the disease and simultaneously detect liver or vascular invasion, biliary tract and/or lymph node involvement. Contributed by “
“A 49-year-old male was referred to our hospital for chronic diarrhea and

weight loss. Patient was previously treated for articular rheumatism with immunosuppressive therapy for 7 years without significant benefit. Upon admission, hypochromic microcytic anemia, low serum cholesterol, elevated C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were observed. Anti-transglutaminase antibodies were normal. Computed tomography (CT) showed multiple intra and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy suspicious of lymphoma, admixed with some fatty tissue areas. Ultrasonography (US) performed to obtain PARP inhibitor fine-needle biopsy failed to demonstrate a target lesion, but the retroperitoneum appeared thickened by a diffuse non-homogeneous, hyperechoic fatty-like tissue (Figures 1A and B). Endoscopy showed erythema and erosions of the duodenum. Histology of duodenal biopsies showed modifications suggestive of Whipple’s disease (WD) (Figures 2A and B), confirmed by specific polymerase-chain-reaction. The patient selleck products was given twice daily sulfametoxazole/trimetroprim

for one year. The symptoms improved after 3 weeks of treatment and completely disappeared after 3 months. Follow-up CTs showed a progressive reduction of lymphadenopathy. WD is a chronic multi-organ infectious disease caused by Tropheryma whipplei, commonly affecting middle-aged white men. About 1000 cases have been reported. Tropheryma whipplei is a ubiquitous pathogen. The transmission mode is still unclear although faecal-oral way has been suggested. The decreased production of interleukin-12 with reduced release of interferon-gamma by T-cells and defective macrophage activation might represent the predisposing pathogenetic mechanism. Several studies have shown that macrophages accumulating within the lamina propria appear unable to degrade phagocytosed bacteria. WD may interest every organ. Gastrointestinal involvement occurs in 70% of cases with weight loss, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Extraintestinal manifestations can involve joints, heart, lymphatic system, skin and central nervous system.

Our data on 103 field-collected toads (53 of which contained lungworms) support this prediction. Exercise induced a greater increase in heartbeat rate in infected toads than in uninfected conspecifics, but no shift in oxygen saturation of the haemoglobin. “
“Rostral appendages occur in a very small number of species spread across the entire clade of iguanian lizards. The five species of Sri Lankan agamid lizards of the poorly known endemic genus Ceratophora show

remarkable variation in the morphology and development of rostral appendages, which are absent in two species and present in the other three. Parsimony and Bayesian comparative methods do not robustly resolve whether the appendage evolved once (with two losses), twice (with one loss) or thrice independently. The appendage in C. tennentii is leaf-shaped, present in juveniles and monomorphic in adults. It is BAY 57-1293 datasheet this website quite dissimilar to the appendages in C. aspera and C. stoddartii which are horn-shaped, absent in juveniles and dimorphic in adults. Ceratophora stoddartii is more closely related to C. erdeleni, which

lacks the rostral appendage, than it is to C. aspera. The combined morphological, allometric and phylogenetic evidence suggests rostral appendages evolved three times within Ceratophora: perhaps once as a result of natural selection for crypsis (in C. tennentii) and twice as a result of sexual selection (in C. aspera and C. stoddartii). Our results suggest that these unusual ornaments can evolve by more than

one mechanism and more readily than is suggested by their low frequency among iguanian lizards. “
“Activity and behavior patterns are important find more components of a given species’ ecological strategy, as they have profound implications for its survival and reproduction. Here, we studied the activities, movements and secretive behavior of the thin-spined porcupine Chaetomys subspinosus (Rodentia: Erethizontidae), a threatened arboreal folivore in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. We aimed to ascertain the behavioral strategies used by this species as well as its responses to seasonal and daily climatic changes. Four radio-collared individuals were followed continuously for 72-h in the summer and winter, as well as during 146 half-night sessions conducted from April 2005 to September 2006 in forest remnants in southern Bahia. The thin-spined porcupines were nocturnally active (17:30–05:40 h), with peaks in activity and movement from 19:00 to 20:00 h and 03:00 to 04:00 h. Animals followed a circadian rhythm of activity during both the summer and winter. During the diel cycle, porcupines spent 74% of their time resting, 14% feeding, 11% traveling and 2% performing other activities. Distance traveled during the diel cycle averaged 277.5 ± 117.9 m sd. The mean movement rate during the night was 21.6 ± 30.1 m/h sd.

Bhadoria, Chhagan Bihari, Amna S. Butt, Chan Albert, Yogesh K. Chawla, Abdulkadir Dokmeci, Hasmik Ghazinyan, Saeed S. Hamid, Cho Mong, Guan Huei Lee, Laurentius A. Les-mana, Mamun A. Mahtab, Viniyendra Pamecha, Archana Rastogi, Salimur Rahman, Mohamed Rela, Amrish Sahney, Vivek A. Saraswat, Samir R. Shah, Gamal Shiha, Barjesh C. Sharma, Manoj Kumar, Chitranshu Vashishtha, Ashok Choudhary, Man Fung Yuen Background: Excessive TLR4-mediated innate inflammatory gene induction by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) may result in collateral tissue damage (i.e., immunopathology). To limit this phenomenon, TLR4 induces Ceritinib mechanisms such as tolerance aiming to control the inflammatory response. After a first LPS stimulation, innate immune

cells are tolerant to a second LPS challenge. Tolerant cells are characterized by two categories of genes: “tolerizable” genes that are transiently silenced and “non tolerizable” genes that remain inducible at the same or to a greater level. “Tolerizable” and “non tolerizable” are differentially regulated HSP inhibitor clinical trial through gene-specific epigenetic

mechanisms. In patients with cirrhosis the innate immune response to a first LPS challenge is known to be altered but the response to a second challenge has not yet been studied. This work aims to study the LPS tolerance in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis. Patients and Methods: PBMCs from 9 patients (median MELD score 17 [7.1-29.4]) and 10 healthy subjects have been isolated and cultured for 24 hours with LPS or medium. After 24 hours, PBMCs have been washed and then received or not a second LPS challenge during 4 hours. RNA was extracted and selleck chemicals the expression of 32 genes known to be involved

in the innate immune response has been studied by RT-qPCR. Results: After the second LPS stimulation in healthy PBMCs, “tolerizable” genes included proinflammatory genes (e.g., TNF), anti-inflammatory mediators (e.g., IL10, TNFAIP3, IL1RN, NFKBIA) and interferon stimulated genes (ISGs, e.g., MX2, OAS2, IFIT1, MOV10); “non tolerizable” genes included proinflammatory genes (e.g., IL8, CXCL1, CXCL5) and antimicrobial peptide (e.g., LCN2). “Cirrhotic” cells exhibited an enhanced tolerance phenomenon: the expression of IL10, TNFAIP3 and LCN2 was 2.5 (p<0.01), 1.5 (p=0.04) and 2 times (p=0.01) lower as compared to “healthy” cells; the expression of ISGs was also lower (1.6-6.4 times lower, each p<0.05). Furthermore, the second stimulation led to a 3 times stronger down-regulation of IL10 (p<0.01) and an 11 times more pronounced up-regulation of CXCL5 (p=0.02) in cirrhotic cells. Finally, while LCN2 was a “non tolerizable” gene in healthy PBMCs, it was “tolerizable” in cirrhotic PBMCs (p=0.02). Conclusions: Immune cells from patients with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis exhibit alterations of the gene-specific control of inflammation and antimicrobial response during LPS tolerance phenomenon.

It is difficult and expensive to perform full cohort serum analyses, whereas the nested case-control design utilized here can provide substantial reductions in cost and effort with little loss of statistical efficiency.36 Another major strength of our study is that it incorporated, in a strict and in-depth manner, hepatitis virus infection status and HCC cases were identified through the Hiroshima Tumor and Tissue Registry and Nagasaki Cancer Registry,

supplemented by additional cases detected by way of pathological review of related diseases.26 A limitation of our study is that the joint effects of radiation and hepatitis virus infection could not be estimated from the standpoint of causality. As discussed previously, HBV and possibly HCV infection may act as intermediate risk factors in radiation-associated HCC. Previous studies have consistently demonstrated DNA Damage inhibitor that prevalence of HBsAg increases with radiation dose within the AHS,17-19 although no dose response for anti-HCV Ab has been detected.20 Therefore, when the risk of HCC for radiation is estimated while

controlling for HBV infection, some of the radiation risk may be absorbed in the coefficient for HBV infection. In other words, the radiation risk coefficient does not represent Volasertib ic50 the radiation effect independent of mediation by HBV infection and the HCC risk for HBV infection itself is not correctly estimated, because the actual causal pathway is not explicitly modeled. In addition, we cannot easily disentangle the joint effects of radiation and HBV infection

using standard regression models, because HBV infection is not a true confounding risk factor but an intermediate risk factor. Nevertheless, that the radiation risk did not decrease with concomitant adjustment for viral infection suggests that the practical extent of mediation may be small. We are currently developing methods of statistical analysis that jointly consider the dose response for the intermediate viral factor as well learn more as the joint risk of HCC for both hepatitis virus infection and radiation in the countermatched, nested case-control design. In conclusion, radiation exposure was associated with increased risk of HCC, even after adjusting for HBV or HCV infection, alcohol consumption, BMI, and smoking habit. Moreover, radiation exposure was an independent risk factor for non-B, non-C HCC with no apparent confounding by alcohol consumption, BMI, or smoking habit. The mechanistic form of joint effects of radiation and HBV or HCV infection on HCC risk could not be estimated, but the development of new statistical methods that jointly consider the dose response for the intermediate viral factor will make such an analysis possible in the future.