Mo1021 Clinical Significance of Serum Ferritin in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B, Hepatitis B Virus-Related Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

and treatment of HE could prevent liver disease progression and hospitalisation.We conducted a pilot study to analyse the breath samples of patients with different HE grades, alongside the breath of healthy controls, using a portable type electronic nose (uvFAIMS).Methods: 42 patients were enrolled; 22 with HE and 20 healthy controls.Breath samples were captured at the bedside using a Warwick designed breath capture device.The samples were then analysed using a ultra violet FAIMS machine.This uses ultra violet light to energise electrons rather than ionising radiation in the traditional FAIMS devices.West Haven criteria were applied and MELD scores calculated.Results: Applying linear discriminant analysis, we could distinguish those with HE from controls with a sensitivity and specificity of 95% respectively.Minimal HE was distinguishable from covert/overt HE with sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 50% Conclusions: This pilot study has affirmed the potential of breath analysis to identify VOCs signatures in HE patients.Importantly this was performed utilising a non-invasive, portable bedside device and holds potential for future early diagnosis of minimal or covert HE. Mo1020HBx Co-Localizes With COXIII in HL-7702 Cells to up-Regulate Mitochondrial Fuction and Promote Cell Proliferation Biyun Zheng, Xiaozhong Wang Background and Aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant diseases, and HBx leads to the development of HBV-associated HCC.Mitochondria, the source of HBx-induced ROS, are key organelles which regulate apoptosis, cellular energetics and signal transduction pathways.Our recent studies have revealed that HBx can interact with the inner mitochondrial membrane protein, cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COXIII), by yeast two-hybrid system, mating experiment and coimmunoprecipitation.Methods: To further explore the co-localizaiton of HBx and COXIII in HL-7702 cells and to investigate the following changes of mitochondrial function and the molecular mechanism of HBx in HL-7702 cells growth promotion.A HL-7702 cell line stably expressing HBx gene by lentivirus vectors were constructed.Confocal microscopy was utilized to assess the interaction between HBx protein and COXIII.Expression of COXIII, activities of cytochrome c oxidase and mitochondrial membrane potential which were functional relevant of HBx protein-COXIII interaction were investigated in cell cultures.Moreover, the intracellular ROS and COX-2 levels as well as cell proliferation were analyzed.Results: Our studies further demonstrated that HBx co-localized with the inner mitochondrial protein, COXIII, in HL-7702 cells, cause the up-regulation of COXIII protein expression as well as COX activity.However, HBx didn't change mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondria were only slightly swelling in HL-7702-HBx cells.Moreover, the following up-regulation of COX-2 caused by HBx through generation of mitochondrial ROS promoted the growth of HL-7702-HBx cells.Conclusions: Collectively, the major finding of this study is that the colocalization of HBx and COXIII leads to the up-regulation of mitochondrial function and COX-2 generation that promote the growth of HL-7702 cells.