To investigate whether covered stents show a higher efficacy than uncovered stents in percutaneous treatment of malignant hilar biliary obstruction. Patients with obstructive jaundice caused by an unresectable hilar malignancy were included after failed endoscopic intervention in a prospective randomized trial comparing expanded polytetrafluoroethy...
Photothermal nanomaterials that integrate multimodal imaging and therapeutic functions provide promising opportunities for noninvasive and targeted diagnosis and treatment in precision medicine. However, the clinical translation of existing photothermal nanoagents is severely hindered by their unclear physiological metabolism, which makes them a st...
Phycocyanobilin (PCB) is a blue tetrapyrrole chromophore of C-phycocyanin, the main protein of the microalga Spirulina, with numerous proven health-related benefits. We examined binding of PCB to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and how it affects protein and ligand stability. Protein fluorescence quenching and microscale thermophoresis demonstrated high...
Serum liver biomarkers (gamma-glutamyl transferase, GGT; alanine aminotransferase, ALT; aspartate aminotransferase, AST; alkaline phosphatase, ALP; total bilirubin) are used as indicators of liver disease, but there is currently little data on their prospective association with risk of hepatobiliary cancers. A nested-case control study was conducte...
