Open Access

Background: Interleukin-22 (IL-22), recently identified as a crucial parameter of pathology in experimental liver damage, may determine survival in clinical end-stage liver disease. Systematic analysis of serum IL-22 in relation to morbidity and mortality of patients with advanced liver cirrhosis has not been performed so far. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study including 120 liver cirrhosis patients and 40 healthy donors to analyze systemic levels of IL-22 in relation to survival and hepatic complications. Results: A total of 71% of patients displayed liver cirrhosis-related complications at study inclusion. A total of 23% of the patients died during a mean follow-up of 196 +/- 165 days. Systemic IL-22 was detectable in 74% of patients but only in 10% of healthy donors (P <0.001). Elevated levels of IL-22 were associated with ascites (P = 0.006), hepatorenal syndrome (P <0.0001), and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (P = 0.001). Patients with elevated IL-22 (>18 pg/ml, n = 57) showed significantly reduced survival compared to patients with regular ([less than or equal to]18 pg/ml) levels of IL-22 (321 days versus 526 days, P = 0.003). Other factors associated with overall survival were high CRP ([greater than or equal to]2.9 mg/dl, P = 0.005, hazard ratio (HR) 0.314, confidence interval (CI) (0.141 to 0.702)), elevated serum creatinine (P = 0.05, HR 0.453, CI (0.203 to 1.012)), presence of liver-related complications (P = 0.028, HR 0.258 CI (0.077 to 0.862)), model of end stage liver disease (MELD) score [greater than or equal to]20 (P = 0.017, HR 0.364, CI (0.159 to 0.835)) and age (P = 0.011, HR 1.047, CI (1.011 to 1.085)). Adjusted multivariate Cox proportional-hazards analysis identified elevated systemic IL-22 levels as independent predictors of reduced survival (P = 0.007, HR 0.218, CI (0.072 to 0.662)). Conclusions: In patients with liver cirrhosis, elevated systemic IL-22 levels are predictive for reduced survival independently from age, liver-related complications, CRP, creatinine and the MELD score. Thus, processes that lead to a rise in systemic interleukin-22 may be relevant for prognosis of advanced liver cirrhosis.

We report on the first search for ¯Λ−Λ oscillations in the decay 𝐽/𝜓→𝑝⁢𝐾−⁢¯Λ+c.c. by analyzing 1.31×109  𝐽/𝜓 events accumulated with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The 𝐽/𝜓 events are produced using 𝑒+⁢𝑒− collisions at a center of mass energy √𝑠=3.097  GeV. No evidence for hyperon oscillations is observed. The upper limit for the oscillation rate of ¯Λ to Λ hyperons is determined to be 𝒫⁡(Λ)=[ℬ⁡(𝐽/𝜓→𝑝⁢𝐾−⁢Λ+c.c.)/ℬ⁡(𝐽/𝜓→𝑝⁢𝐾−⁢¯Λ+c.c.)]<4.4×10−6 corresponding to an oscillation parameter 𝛿⁢𝑚Λ⁢¯Λ of less than 3.8×10−18  GeV at the 90% confidence level.

We measure the inclusive semielectronic decay branching fraction of the D+s meson. A double-tag technique is applied to e+e− annihilation data collected by the BESIII experiment at the BEPCII collider, operating in the center-of-mass energy range 4.178–4.230 GeV. We select positrons fromD+s→Xe+νe with momenta greater than 200 MeV/c and determine the laboratory momentum spectrum, accounting for the effects of detector efficiency and resolution. The total positron yield and semielectronic branching fraction are determined by extrapolating this spectrum below the momentum cutoff. We measure the D+s semielectronic branching fraction to be(6.30±0.13(stat.)±0.09(syst.)±0.04(ext.))%, showing no evidence for unobserved exclusive semielectronic modes. We combine this result with external data taken from literature to determine the ratio of the D+s and D0 semielectronic widths, Γ(D+s→Xe+νe)Γ(D0→Xe+νe)=0.790±0.016(stat.)±0.011(syst.)±0.016(ext.). Our results are consistent with and more precise than previous measurements.

The Born cross sections and effective form factors for process 𝑒+⁢𝑒−→Ξ−⁢¯Ξ+ are measured at eight center-of-mass energies between 2.644 and 3.080 GeV, using a total integrated luminosity of 363.9  pb−1 𝑒+⁢𝑒− collision data collected with the BESIII detector at BEPCII. After performing a fit to the Born cross section of 𝑒+⁢𝑒−→Ξ−⁢¯Ξ+, no significant threshold effect is observed.

Using 10.1 × 109 J/ψ events produced by the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII) at a center-of-mass energy √s = 3.097 GeV and collected with the BESIII detector, we present a search for the rare semi-leptonic decay J/ψ → D−e+νe + c.c. No excess of signal above background is observed, and an upper limit on the branching fraction ℬ(J/ψ → D−e+νe + c. c.) < 7.1 × 10−8 is obtained at 90% confidence level. This is an improvement of more than two orders of magnitude over the previous best limit.