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Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays a role in liver cancer development. We previously showed that ROS increased HBx levels and here, we investigated the role of antioxidants in the regulation of HBx expression and their clinical relevance. We found that overexpression of catalase induced a significant loss in HBx levels. The cysteine null mutant of HBx (Cys−) showed a dramatic reduction in its protein stability. In clonogenic proliferation assays, Huh7-X cells produced a significant number of colonies whereas Huh7-Cys− cells failed to generate them. The Cys at position 69 of HBx was crucial to maintain its protein stability and transactivation function in response to ROS. Among 50 HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens, 72% of HCCs showed lower catalase levels than those of surrounding non-tumor tissues. In advanced stage IV, catalase levels in non-tumor tissues were increased whereas those in tumors were further reduced. Accordingly, patients with a high T/N ratio for catalase showed significantly longer survival than those with a low T/N ratio. Together, catalase expression in HCC patients can be clinically useful for prediction of patient survival, and restoration of catalase expression in HCCs could be an important strategy for intervention in HBV-induced liver diseases.

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1)The aim of this study was to examine the effects of repeated passive movement (RPM) of different velocities on the improvement of knee joint position sense (JPS) in post-stroke patients with hemiplegia, thereby investigate the possibility of clinical application in the initial stage of rehabilitation for patients with post-stroke hemiplegia. Thirteen hemiplegic patients participated in this study. For the subjects' knee JPS tests, a passive angle reproduction test and an active angle reproduction test were performed prior to and after the intervention, which involved 30 repetitions of passive full-range-of-motion flexion and extension exercise of the knee joints at randomized degrees of 0°/s, 45°/s, and 90°/s. Paired t-test analysis was done in order to compare changes in the pre-and post-intervention knee JPS. One-way repeated analysis of variance was used in order to compare changes in JPS after intervention at three different movement velocities. The level of significance was set at .05. The result was that the subjects' post-intervention knee JPS significantly improved after the RPM exercise at a 45°/s and a 90°/s relative to the RPM exercise 0°/s (p<.05). JPS changes with RPM intervention at the rapid velocity of 90°/s were most increased, suggesting the most effective enhancement in knee JPS is with intervention at the velocity (p<.05). Therefore, RPM intervention at a half or higher velocity improved stroke patients' knee JPS. During the initial stage of rehabilitation for patients with post-stroke hemiplegia, the efficient application of the RPM exercise at a half or higher velocity will be possible.