Browsing by Author "Are, Vijay S."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Changes in Serum Myostatin Levels in Alcoholic Hepatitis Correlate with Improvement in MELD
    (Springer Nature, 2021) Shamseddeen, Hani; Madathanapalli, Abhishek; Are, Vijay S.; Shah, Vijay H.; Sanyal, Arun J.; Qing, Tang; Liang, Tiebing; Gelow, Kayla; Zimmers, Teresa A.; Chalasani, Naga; Desai, Archita P.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a serious clinical syndrome often associated with muscle wasting. Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, has been studied in diseases with muscle wasting; however, the role of myostatin in AH is unknown. Aims: To investigate the association between myostatin, clinical variables, and outcomes in AH. Methods: We analyzed data for cases of AH and controls of heavy drinkers (HD) in TREAT001 (NCT02172898) with serum myostatin levels (AH: n = 131, HD: n = 124). We compared characteristics between the two groups at baseline, 30, and 90 days and explored correlations between myostatin and clinical variables. We then modeled the relationship of myostatin to other variables, including mortality. Results: Baseline median myostatin was lower in AH compared to HD (males: 1.58 vs 3.06 ng/ml, p < 0.001; females: 0.84 vs 2.01 ng/ml, p < 0.001). In multivariable linear regression, bilirubin, WBC, and platelet count remained negatively correlated with myostatin in AH. AH females who died at 90 days had significantly lower myostatin, but in a multivariable logistic model with MELD and myostatin, only MELD remained significantly associated with 90-day mortality. During 1-year follow-up, AH cases (n = 30) demonstrated an increase in myostatin (mean, 1.73 ng/ml) which correlated with decreasing MELD scores (ρ = - 0.42, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Myostatin levels are significantly lower in AH compared to HD and are negatively correlated with total bilirubin, WBC, and platelet count. Myostatin increased as patients experienced decreases in MELD. Overall, myostatin demonstrated a dynamic relationship with AH outcomes and future studies are needed to understand the prognostic role of myostatin in AH.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Score Can Be Used to Predict Liver-Related Events in Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Compensated Cirrhosis
    (Elsevier, 2020) Are, Vijay S.; Vuppalanchi, Raj; Vilar-Gomez, Eduardo; Chalasani, Naga; Medicine, School of Medicine
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Improving Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery in Patients With Cirrhosis in the United States: A Nationwide Assessment
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2020-11) Are, Vijay S.; Knapp, Shannon M.; Banerjee, Ambar; Shamseddeen, Hani; Ghabril, Marwan; Orman, Eric; Patidar, Kavish R.; Chalasani, Naga; Desai, Archita P.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: With increasing burden of obesity and liver disease in the United States, a better understanding of bariatric surgery in context of cirrhosis is needed. We described trends of hospital-based outcomes of bariatric surgery among cirrhotics and determined effect of volume status and type of surgery on these outcomes. Methods: In this population-based study, admissions for bariatric surgery were extracted from the National Inpatient Sample using International Classification of Diseases, 9th and 10th Revision, Clinical Modification codes from 2004 to 2016 and grouped by cirrhosis status, type of bariatric surgery, and center volume. In-hospital mortality, complications, and their trends were compared between these groups using weighted counts, odds ratios [ORs], and logistic regression. Results: Among 1,679,828 admissions for bariatric surgery, 9,802 (0.58%) had cirrhosis. Cirrhosis admissions were more likely to be in white men, had higher Elixhauser Index, and higher in-hospital complications rates including death (1.81% vs 0.17%), acute kidney injury (4.5% vs 1.2%), bleeding (2.9% vs 1.1%), and operative complications (2% vs 0.6%) (P < 0.001 for all) compared to those without cirrhosis. Overtime, restrictive surgeries have grown in number (12%-71%) and complications rates have trended down in both groups. Cirrhotics undergoing bariatric surgery at low-volume centers (<50 procedures per year) and nonrestrictive surgery had a higher inpatient mortality rate (adjusted OR 4.50, 95% confidence interval 3.14-6.45, adjusted OR 4.00, 95% confidence interval 2.68-5.97, respectively). Discussion: Contemporary data indicate that among admissions for bariatric surgery, there is a shift to restrictive-type surgeries with an improvement in-hospital complications and mortality. However, patients with cirrhosis especially those at low-volume centers have significantly higher risk of worse outcomes (see Visual abstract, Supplementary Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/AJG/B648).