Association of preoperative albumin–bilirubin with surgical textbook outcomes following laparoscopic hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and aimsRecently, the effectiveness of “textbook outcomes (TO)” in the evaluation of surgical quality has been recognized by more and more scholars. This study tended to examine the association between preoperative albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) grades and the incidence of achieving or not achieving TO (non-TO) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing laparoscopic hepatectomy.MethodsThe patients were stratified into two groups: ALBI grade 1 (ALBI ≤ -2.60) and ALBI grade 2/3 (ALBI > -2.60). The characteristics of patients and the incidence of non-TO were compared. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine whether ALBI grade was independently associated with TO.ResultsIn total, 378 patients were enrolled, including 194 patients (51.3%) in the ALBI grade 1 group and 184 patients (48.7%) in the ALBI grade 2/3 group. In the whole cohort, 198 patients (52.4%) did not achieve TO, and the incidence of non-TO in the ALBI grade 2/3 group was obviously higher than that in the ALBI grade 1 group (n = 112, 60.9% vs. n = 86, 44.3%, P = 0.001). The multivariate analyses showed that ALBI grade 2/3 was an independent risk factor for non-TO (OR: 1.95, 95%CI: 1.30–2.94, P = 0.023).ConclusionsMore than half (52.4%) of the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma did not achieve TO after laparoscopic hepatectomy, and preoperative ALBI grade 2/3 was significantly associated with non-TO. Improving the liver function reserve of patients before operation, thereby reducing the ALBI grade, may increase the probability for patients to reach TO and enable patients to benefit more from surgery

Cloning and functional characterization of SAD genes in potato.

Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase (SAD), locating in the plastid stroma, is an important fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme in higher plants. SAD catalyzes desaturation of stearoyl-ACP to oleyl-ACP and plays a key role in determining the homeostasis between saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids, which is an important player in cold acclimation in plants. Here, four new full-length cDNA of SADs (ScoSAD, SaSAD, ScaSAD and StSAD) were cloned from four Solanum species, Solanum commersonii, S. acaule, S. cardiophyllum and S. tuberosum, respectively. The ORF of the four SADs were 1182 bp in length, encoding 393 amino acids. A sequence alignment indicated 13 amino acids varied among the SADs of three wild species. Further analysis showed that the freezing tolerance and cold acclimation capacity of S. commersonii are similar to S. acaule and their SAD amino acid sequences were identical but differed from that of S. cardiophyllum, which is sensitive to freezing. Furthermore, the sequence alignments between StSAD and ScoSAD indicated that only 7 different amino acids at residues were found in SAD of S. tuberosum (Zhongshu8) against the protein sequence of ScoSAD. A phylogenetic analysis showed the three wild potato species had the closest genetic relationship with the SAD of S. lycopersicum and Nicotiana tomentosiformis but not S. tuberosum. The SAD gene from S. commersonii (ScoSAD) was cloned into multiple sites of the pBI121 plant binary vector and transformed into the cultivated potato variety Zhongshu 8. A freeze tolerance analysis showed overexpression of the ScoSAD gene in transgenic plants significantly enhanced freeze tolerance in cv. Zhongshu 8 and increased their linoleic acid content, suggesting that linoleic acid likely plays a key role in improving freeze tolerance in potato plants. This study provided some new insights into how SAD regulates in the freezing tolerance and cold acclimation in potato

Sequences of primers.

<p>Sequences of primers.</p

Process of buds induction from potato tuber dish A: Nov.26th, 2012; B: Dec.1th, 2012; C: Dec.5th, 2012; D: Dec.10th, 2012.

<p>Process of buds induction from potato tuber dish A: Nov.26th, 2012; B: Dec.1th, 2012; C: Dec.5th, 2012; D: Dec.10th, 2012.</p

The pBI121 binary vector (A) and Southern blots of transgenic plants harboring the stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene from <i>S</i>. <i>commersonii</i> (<i>ScoSAD</i>) (B).

<p>PCK, <i>pBI121</i>:<i>ScoSAD</i> plasmid; NCK, wild-type Zhongshu8 plant; T13-T33, <i>ScoSAD</i>-overexpressing lines.</p

Nonacclimated freezing tolerance (RFT) and acclimation capacity (ΔRFT) of Genetically modified lines and control (WT).

<p>T13-T33, <i>ScoSAD</i>-overexpressing lines. WT, wild-type Zhongshu No. 8.</p><p>Nonacclimated freezing tolerance (RFT) and acclimation capacity (ΔRFT) of Genetically modified lines and control (WT).</p

Neighbor-joining tree of the stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase (SAD) amino acid sequences of 10 species.

<p>Neighbor-joining tree of the stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase (SAD) amino acid sequences of 10 species.</p