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Hepatitis C Virus Infections (hepatitis + c_virus_infections)
Selected AbstractsProtection of estrogens against the progression of chronic liver diseaseHEPATOLOGY RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007Ichiro Shimizu Hepatitis C virus infections are recognized as a major causative factor of chronic liver disease. A characteristic feature of chronic hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is hepatic steatosis. Hepatic steatosis leads to an increase in lipid peroxidation in hepatocytes, which, in turn, activates hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). HSCs are also thought to be the primary target cells for inflammatory and oxidative stimuli, and to produce extracellular matrix components. Based on available clinical information, chronic hepatitis C appears to progress more rapidly in men than in women, and cirrhosis is predominately a disease of men and postmenopausal women. Estradiol is a potent endogenous antioxidant. Hepatic steatosis was reported to become evident in an aromatase-deficient mouse and was diminished in animals after treatment with estradiol. Our previous studies showed that estradiol suppressed hepatic fibrosis in animal models, and attenuated HSC activation by suppressing the generation of reactive oxygen species in primary cultures. Variant estrogen receptors were found to be expressed to a greater extent in male patients with chronic liver disease than in female subjects. A better understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying the gender-associated differences observed in the progression of chronic liver disease would provide valuable information relative to the search for effective antifibrogenic therapies. [source] Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections in France in 2004: Social factors are important predictors after adjusting for known risk factorsJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 4 2010Christine Meffre Abstract To monitor the prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2004 among French metropolitan residents. A complex sampling design was used to enroll 14,416 adult participants aged 18,80 years. Data collected included demographic and social characteristics and risk factors. Sera were tested for anti-HCV, HCV-RNA, anti-HBc and HBsAg. Data were analyzed with SUDAAN® software to provide weighted estimates for the French metropolitan resident population. The overall anti-HCV prevalence was 0.84% (95% CI: 0.65,1.10). Among anti-HCV positive individuals, 57.4% (95% CI: 43.2,70.5) knew their status. Factors associated independently with positive anti-HCV were drug use (intravenous and nasal), blood transfusion before 1992, a history of tattoos, low socioeconomic status, being born in a country where anti-HCV prevalence >2.5%, and age >29 years. The overall anti-HBc prevalence was 7.3% (95%: 6.5,8.2). Independent risk factors for anti-HBc were intravenous drug use, being a man who has sex with men, low socioeconomic status, a stay in a psychiatric facility or facility for the mentally disabled, <12 years of education, being born in a country where HBsAg prevalence >2%, age >29 and male sex. The HCV RNA and HBsAg prevalence were 0.53% (95% CI: 0.40,0.70) and 0.65% (95% CI: 0.45,0.93), respectively. Among HBsAg positive individuals, 44.8% (95% CI: 22.8,69.1) knew their status. Anti-HCV prevalence was close to the 1990s estimates whereas HBsAg prevalence estimate was greater than expected. Screening of hepatitis B and C should be strengthened and should account for social vulnerability. J. Med. Virol. 82:546,555, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Antibody convergence along a common idiotypic axis in immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus infectionsJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 1 2002Michael D. GrantArticle first published online: 29 NOV 200 Abstract The anti-idiotypic antibody 1F7 selectively binds antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) gag, pol, and env proteins. We tested anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies to investigate selection of the 1F7 idiotype on antibodies against other chronic pathogens. Twelve of 15 HCV-seropositive individuals co-infected with HIV had detectable antibodies against recombinant HCV core, 4 against HCV NS4 protein, and 3 against HCV NS3 protein. All four HCV-seropositive, non-HIV-infected individuals had antibodies against HCV core and NS4, while 3 had antibodies against NS3. The 1F7 idiotype was frequently present on antibodies against each of the HCV antigens in the HIV co-infected and non-HIV-infected groups. Antibodies against HCV, including antibodies recognizing the putative principal neutralizing determinant of HCV E2 protein, displayed skewed ,/, light chain usage consistent with clonal dominance. These observations extend the association between expression of the 1F7 idiotype and abnormal B cell clonal dominance in HIV and SIV infection to HCV infection and suggest that early establishment of an oligoclonal antibody response against HCV may freeze the B cell repertoire, impair adaptation to emergent HCV variants, and favor escape from neutralizing antibodies. We also demonstrated that expression of the 1F7 idiotype extends beyond antibodies against multiple antigens of AIDS-causing retroviruses to include antibodies against multiple antigens of an unrelated chronic hepatitis virus. Thus, distinct pathogens establishing chronic infection in the face of strong humoral immune responses select antibodies along a common idiotypic axis of the immune network. J. Med. Virol. 66:13,21, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Lack of de novo hepatitis C virus infections and absence of nosocomial transmissions of GB virus C in a large cohort of German haemodialysis patientsJOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, Issue 4 2009R. S. Ross Summary., To determine the prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among haemodialysis patients, a large prospective multicentre trial was conducted in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Sera obtained from the recruited patients in two separate sampling rounds run 1 year apart were analysed for both anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA. HCV RNA positive samples were also genotyped by direct sequencing of an HCV core fragment. In the first and second rounds, 150 (5.2%) of 2909 and 114 (5.4%) of 2100 patients were anti-HCV positive, respectively, and 4% of individuals were viraemic. Evaluation of potential risk factors in a case,control study indicated that the factors ,foreign country of birth', ,blood transfusions given before 1991' and ,duration of treatment on haemodialysis' were associated with the risk of HCV infection. Among the 2100 patients of whom ,paired' serum samples from both rounds were available for testing, not a single ,de novo' HCV infection could be recorded. The fact that in a subset of about 20% of these patients no nosocomial GB virus C (GBV-C) transmission occurred during the observational period suggests that the lack of HCV seroconversions was not only attributable to the isolation of HCV-infected patients but also to the strict adherence to so-called universal hygienic precautions for infection control maintained in the participating dialysis centres. [source] | ||||||||||