Search results for " Antibodies"

Characteristics of patients with hepatitis C virus-related chronic liver diseases just before the era of oral direct-acting antiviral therapy in Italy

2018

Background In 2017, oral direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection became available free of charge for all HCV-RNA-positive patients, irrespective of their fibrosis stage. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of HCV-related chronic liver disease (CLD) in Italy just before the introduction of DAA therapy. Patients and methods Patients with CLD were enrolled in two national surveys conducted in 2001 and in 2014. The two surveys prospectively enrolled patients aged older than 18 years referring to Italian liver units throughout the country using a similar clinical approach and analytical methods. Results Out of the 12 564 patie…

A novel pyruvate kinase (PK-S) from boar spermatozoa is localized at the fibrous sheath and the acrosome

2007

Boar spermatozoa contain a novel pyruvate kinase (PK-S) that is tightly bound at the acrosome of the sperm head and at the fibrous sheath in the principal piece of the flagellum, while the midpiece contains a soluble pyruvate kinase (PK). PK-S could not be solubilized by detergents, but by trypsin with no loss of activity. Purified PK-S as well as PK-S still bound to cell structures and soluble sperm PK have all kinetics similar to those of rabbit muscle PK-M1. The PK-S subunit had a relative molecular mass of 64 ± 1 × 103(n= 3), i.e. slightly higher than that of PK-M1, and carried an N-terminal extension (NH2-TSEAM-COOH) that is lacking in native PK-M1. Evidence is provided that PK-S is en…

Modulation of epitope-specific anti-hepatitis C virus E2 (anti-HCV/E2) antibodies by antiviral treatment

2006

The dynamic features of three specific anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody subpopulations directed against different conformational epitopes of the viral E2 protein (HCV/E2) have been evaluated in patients with primary and persistent HCV infection; the three subpopulations are present in patients infected with different HCV genotypes and have shown a different activity using a pseudovirus neutralization assay (antibodies e301 and e137 exhibiting high neutralizing activity, while antibody e509 enhancement of HCV infectivity). In sequential samples from five patients with primary HCV infection and different virological outcome, all samples tested negative with the single exception of the e5…

The effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on hepatitis B vaccination in haemodialysis patients.

1996

Haemodialysis patients often fail to respond to hepatitis B vaccination. In this pilot study, 15 patients previously non-responsive to at least three 40 micrograms doses of hepatitis B vaccine were given 0.5, 5 or 10 micrograms kg-1 granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) subcutaneously 24 h prior to booster vaccination with a hepatitis B vaccine. Seven of the 15 patients developed antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAb) (35-7240 IU L-1) upon initial vaccination with GM-CSF and two of four individuals responded with low HBsAb titres of 15 and 60 IU L-1 when revaccinated with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and twice the dose of GM-CSF. The application of GM-CSF…

Hepatitis B virus and delta infection in male homosexuals

2008

— Six hundred and sixty-six homosexuals were analysed in respect of hepatitis B virus and delta infections. Evidence of ongoing or recent hepatitis B virus infection was found in 450/666 (67.6%) homosexuals; 44 were HBsAg positive. Anti-delta was found in two HBsAg-positive homosexuals. Both individuals had a non-replicative form of HBV infection and biochemical evidence of liver disease. The study confirms that HBV infection is frequent in homosexuals and indicates that delta-infection is rare in male homosexuals.

Evolving clinical landscape of chronic hepatitis B: A multicenter Italian study

2009

The aim of the study was to evaluate the characteristics of chronic hepatitis B with special reference to the geographical origin of the patients and to the prevalence of HBeAg and viral and non-viral co-factors of liver disease. A cross-sectional multicenter survey was undertaken, which enrolled 1,386 HBsAg chronic carriers observed consecutively in 21 referral centers over a 6-month period. The prevalence of HBeAg in patients was 11%; the presence of HBeAg was associated independently with a younger age and co-infection with HIV. Anti-HDV, anti-HCV, or anti-HIV antibodies were detected in 8.1%, 6.5%, and 2%, respectively. However, among the patients first diagnosed during the study period…

Gross Pathologic Types of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Italy

1999

The prevalence and independent predictors of the different macroscopic types of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were assessed in 1,073 unselected patients of 14 hospitals in Italy from May 1996 to May 1997. Solitary HCC was the most common cancer type (44.6%), followed by multinodular (44.2%), diffuse (8.4%) and massive (2.8%) types. After adjustment for the influence of confounders by multiple logistic regression analysis, Child-Pugh grades B and C were found to be independent predictors of multinodular (odds ratio, OR, 2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5–2.6) and diffuse (OR 2.6; 95% CI = 1.6–4.4) HCC types. These findings indicate that the majority of HCC cases are not detected at a p…

Detection of different viral strains of hepatitis B virus in chronically infected children after seroconversion from HBsAg to anti-HBs indicating vir…

1998

Abstract Background/Aims: Seroconversion to anti-HBs or the loss of HBsAg is usually associated with complete elimination of the replicative hepatitis B virus. Usually in these patients hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) becomes undetectable. Routine controls of patients who underwent anti-HBs seroconversion by more sensitive tests showed that in some cases the virus persisted in the patient. Therefore the aim of our study was to evaluate if virus persistence could also be found in children with chronic hepatitis B after anti-HBs seroconversion. The virus pool should be characterized before and after seroconversion. Methods: Viral DNA was extracted from nine HBsAg negative or anti-HBs positive…

Usefulness of routine hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, and parvovirus B19 serology in the diagnosis of recent-onset inflammatory arthritides.

2005

Hepatitis C virus replication in ‘autoimmune’ chronic hepatitis

1991

Abstract Both high and low anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) prevalence has been reported in autoimmune chronic active hepatitis. Therefore, we studied 15 consecutive HBsAg-negative, ELISA anti-HCV-positive, autoantibody-positive patients with biopsy proven chronic active hepatitis in order to confirm ELISA specificity by immunoblot test (RIBA-HCV), and to evaluate HCV replication by serum HCV-RNA. Nine patients were anti-nuclear, three type 1 anti-liver-kidney microsomal and three anti-smooth muscle antibody positive. None had associated autoimmune disease. All cases showed mild clinical disease and only moderate necroinflammatory activity. Response to prednisone was poor. RIBA-HC…