Letter To The Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2020; 26(9): 992-994
Published online Mar 7, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i9.992
Results of meta-analysis should be treated critically
Rong-Qiang Liu, Yi Shao
Rong-Qiang Liu, Yi Shao, Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Rong-Qiang Liu, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510220, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Liu RQ and Shao Y designed and performed the research, and analyzed the data; Liu RQ wrote the letter; Liu RQ revised the letter.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81400372; Youth Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, No. 20151BAB21516; Science and Technology Plan Project of Jiangxi Province, No. 20151BBG70223; Association for Science and Technology of Jiangxi Province, No. 20111BBG70026-2; Science and Technology Plan of Jiangxi Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, No. 20164017 and No. 20155154.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Osamu Yokosuka has received research funding from Chugai Pharma.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi Shao, MD, PhD, Director, Doctor, Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 17, YongWaiZheng Street, DongHu District, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China. freebee99@163.com
Received: November 25, 2019
Peer-review started: November 25, 2019
First decision: December 23, 2019
Revised: January 14, 2020
Accepted: January 19, 2020
Article in press: January 19, 2020
Published online: March 7, 2020
Processing time: 101 Days and 18.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been widely used in patients with liver disease. In general, PPIs are considered safe. However, accumulating evidence indicates that long-term and excessive use of PPIs without clear indication can lead to serious adverse reactions. Some epidemiological studies have investigated the association of PPI use with the risk of hepatic encephalopathy. However, the results are controversial. The study reveals that PPI use increases hepatic encephalopathy risk in patients with liver disease. This reminds clinicians to be more cautious when using PPIs in patients with liver disease.