Current therapies in alleviating liver disorders and cancers with a special focus on the potential of vitamin D

Abstract Background Liver dysfunction is a topic of global concern with many advancing therapies being researched. Though vitamin D takes a center place, other therapies especially nutritional are also gaining ground. Vitamin D has gone beyond its role in skeletal disorders by showcasing its associations in other metabolic dysfunctions too. Result Epidemiological evidences show a correlation between the status of vitamin D and different forms of cancer. Vitamin D receptors and alterations in gene expression appear decisive in the development of chronic liver disorders. Nutritional status therefore plays a significant role in avoiding the complications related to liver dysfunctions, making it mandatory in maintaining vitamin D sufficiency in the body. Therapies with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, amino acids, steroids also render benefits which could be further explored. Recent research on the progression of certain forms of liver cancer using vitamin D analogs like Seocalcitol EB 1089 has shown good promise. Conclusion The anti-inflammatory and immuno- regulatory properties of vitamin D makes its analogs, suitable candidates of better choice for the prevention and treatment of liver disorders and cancer

Search for invisible decays of the Higgs boson produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at, root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for Higgs boson decays to invisible particles is performed using 20,3 of fb(-1) collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded by the ArL As detector at the Large IHIadron Collider. The process considered is Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson (V = W or Z) that decays hadronically, resulting in events with two or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No excess of candidates is observed in the data over the background expectation. The results are used to constrain V H production followed by H decaying to invisible particles for the Higgs boson mass range 115 < m(H) < 300 GeV. The 95 % confidence-level observed upper limit on sigma vH x BR(H -> inv.) varies from 1.6 pb at 115 GeV to 0.13 ph at 300 GeV. Assuming Standard Model production and including the gg -> H contribution as signal, the results also lead to an observed upper limit of 78 c/c at 95 % confidence level on the branching ratio of Higgs bosons decays to invisible particles at a mass of 125 GeV

Critical care usage after major gastrointestinal and liver surgery: a prospective, multicentre observational study

Background: Patient selection for critical care admission must balance patient safety with optimal resource allocation. This study aimed to determine the relationship between critical care admission, and postoperative mortality after abdominal surgery. Methods: This prespecified secondary analysis of a multicentre, prospective, observational study included consecutive patients enrolled in the DISCOVER study from UK and Republic of Ireland undergoing major gastrointestinal and liver surgery between October and December 2014. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore associations between critical care admission (planned and unplanned) and mortality, and inter-centre variation in critical care admission after emergency laparotomy. Results: Of 4529 patients included, 37.8% (n=1713) underwent planned critical care admissions from theatre. Some 3.1% (n=86/2816) admitted to ward-level care subsequently underwent unplanned critical care admission. Overall 30-day mortality was 2.9% (n=133/4519), and the risk-adjusted association between 30-day mortality and critical care admission was higher in unplanned [odds ratio (OR): 8.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.51–19.97) than planned admissions (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.43–3.85). Some 26.7% of patients (n=1210/4529) underwent emergency laparotomies. After adjustment, 49.3% (95% CI: 46.8–51.9%, P&lt;0.001) were predicted to have planned critical care admissions, with 7% (n=10/145) of centres outside the 95% CI. Conclusions: After risk adjustment, no 30-day survival benefit was identified for either planned or unplanned postoperative admissions to critical care within this cohort. This likely represents appropriate admission of the highest-risk patients. Planned admissions in selected, intermediate-risk patients may present a strategy to mitigate the risk of unplanned admission. Substantial inter-centre variation exists in planned critical care admissions after emergency laparotomies