Search results for "Hepatitis C Antigens"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Serological pattern of Hepatitis B, C, and HIV infections among immigrants in Sicily: epidemiological aspects and implication on public health.
2011
The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in a cohort of immigrants living in Palermo, Sicily. The study was carried out in the period May 2006-June 2010 and recruited a total of 393 patients (59.8% males-median age of 32.6 years). All patients were tested for serological markers of HBV, HCV, and HIV infection. One-hundred thirty-eight (35.1%) individuals did not show any HBV/HCV/HIV serological marker, while 186 (47.3%) were indicative of past or current HBV infection. A total of 42 (10.7%) subjects were HBsAg positive, 59 (15.0%) showed the serological profile "anti-HBc …
The cellular immune responses induced in the follow-up of interferon-α treated patients with chronic hepatitis C may determine the therapy outcome
1998
Abstract Background/Aims: To study whether the host's immune response determines viral clearance in chronic hepatitis C, virological markers and antigen-specific T cell reactions were analysed in 30 chronic HCV carriers followed up during interferon-α therapy, 11 untreated anti-HCV positive individuals and 10 healthy controls. Methods: Proliferative T helper cell responses to recombinant HCV core and non-structural antigens were monitored by 3 H-thymidine uptake assay and compared to quantitative viraemia levels and HCV genotypes. Results: Of the 30 treated patients, six had sustained complete responses (20%), another six were transient therapy responders (20%) and 18 were non-responders (6…
Genetic variability of hepatitis C virus non-structural protein 3 and virus-specific CD8+ response in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
2004
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) variation in specific T-cell epitopes may represent a mechanism of viral persistence in chronic infection. We examined the HCV non-structural protein 3 (NS3), including the immunologically relevant epitopes HCV NS3-2 KLVALGINAV (human leukocyte antigen [HLA]-A2-restricted) and HCV NS3-1391 LIFCHSKKK (HLA-A3-restricted), in 22 HLA-A2+ patients with chronic infection. Significant amino acid variation was found in HCV NS3-2 epitope sequences when compared to the HCV-1 prototype virus. Six of the nine different HCV NS3-2 peptide variants were identified in patients with HCV NS3-2-specific CD8+ cells, detected with an HLA-A2 tetramer made with the HCV-1 prototype peptide.…
Hepatitis C virus - associated B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
2016
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients are prone to develop bone marrow or various tissue infiltrates with monoclonal B cells, monoclonal B lymphocytosis or different types of B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (BCNHL), of which the most common are splenic marginal zone BCNHL, diffuse large BCNHL and follicular lymphoma. The association between chronic HCV infection and non Hodgkin's lymphoma has been observed especially in areas with high prevalence of this viral infection. Outside the limitations of some studies that have been conducted, there are also geographic, environmental, and genetic factors that contribute to the epidemiological differences. Various microenvironmental signals, s…
One-step diagnosis strategy together with multidisciplinary telematics referral perform an effective approach for identifying and treating patients w…
2021
Abstract Introduction and objectives Implementation of a one-step strategy for diagnosis of active Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection would encourage the early diagnosis and reduce the time to access antiviral treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a HCV one-step diagnosis compared to the traditional two-step protocol in terms of the time required for patients to be seen by specialists and the time taken to start antiviral treatment. Material and methods A comparative study was carried out to assess two diagnostic algorithms (one-step and two-step) for active HCV infection. Serological markers were quantified using the same serum sample to determine both anti-HCV ant…
RAPID AND EFFICIENT ANTIGEN PROCESSING AND PRESENTATION OF A PROTECTIVE AND IMMUNODOMINANT HLA-B*27-RESTRICTED HEPATITIS C VIRUS-SPECIFIC CD8+T CELL …
2012
HLA-B*27 exerts protective effects in hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. While the immunological and virological features of HLA-B*27-mediated protection are not fully understood, there is growing evidence that the presentation of specific immunodominant HLA-B*27-restricted CD8+ T-cell epitopes contributes to this phenomenon in both infections. Indeed, protection can be linked to single immunodominant CD8+ T-cell epitopes and functional constraints on escape mutations within these epitopes. To better define the immunological mechanisms underlying HLA-B*27-mediated protection in HCV infection, we analyzed the functional avidity, functional profile, ant…
Preparation of hepatitis C virus structural and non-structural protein fragments and studies of their immunogenicity
2006
Abstract Plasmids pQE-60 and pQE-30 containing 6× His-tag sequence were used for expression of fragments of HCV structural and non-structural proteins in Escherichia coli (E. coli). The following fragments were used: core (1–98 aa), NS3 (202–482 aa), and tetramer of hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of E2 protein. The constructed plasmids directed high levels of expression of HCV proteins in E. coli JM109. After purification by the metal-affinity chromatography on nickel–nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni–NTA) agarose, the His-tagged HCV proteins were used for immunization of BALB/c mice. All three proteins were able to induce high levels of specific antibodies and, in the case of the NS3 and HVR1 tetra…