Search results for "hepacivirus"
showing 10 items of 357 documents
HEPATITIS C AND DIABETES: THE INEVITABLE COINCIDENCE?
2009
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and HCV infection are common conditions involving, respectively, at least 170 and 130 million people worldwide. However, the distribution of such cases does not overlap in the same age groups in different geographic areas. Following pioneering reports of increased prevalence of T2D in HCV-positive cirrhosis, interest concerning the relationship between HCV and T2D has escalated. HCV is able to induce insulin resistance (IR) directly and the role of specific viral genotypes responsible for such effect is disputed. IR has consistently been found to be closely linked to fibrosis in HCV infection, although also typically associated with T2D in prefibrotic stages. HCV infec…
Current and forthcoming perspectives in linkage to care of hepatitis C virus infection: Assessment of an Italian focus group
2019
Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a significant public health problem and is one of the major causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. In recent years many new tools to facilitate widespread HCV screening and new therapeutic options with excellent efficacy and tolerability profiles and cost lowering policies have become available. To fully utilise these new tools, the link between local and specialist centres for the management of HCV infection must be reinforced. In order to GAIN further insight into these aspects, with a particular focus on the Italian scenario, a group of experts met to discuss relevant aspects and open issues on chronic HCV. As a summary of that meeting, the fo…
Expert opinion on managing chronic HCV in patients with cardiovascular disease
2018
International audience; Extrahepatic manifestations of chronic HCV infection include cardiovascular diseases and an increase in cardiovascular mortality. The pathogenic mechanisms by which HCV contributes to cardiovascular disease are not well defined, however, it is likely that systemic inflammation, and the promotion of other metabolic diseases are involved. In this Review, the evidence for HCV infection as a non-traditional risk factor for cardiovascular disease is evaluated. Furthermore, practical advice to evaluate cardiovascular disease risk and disease in chronic hepatitis C patients are included for help in daily clinical practice. Despite the advances in therapies for the treatment…
HCV genotype 5: an orphan virus
2013
HCV genotype 5 (HCV-5) is the least known HCV genotype. It is found mainly in South Africa and in restricted areas of Belgium, Spain, France, Syria and Greece. Sporadic cases are reported worldwide. The main modes of transmission are blood transfusion and iatrogenic causes. Little is known about its origin, but various studies have elucidated its spread worldwide. In endemic areas, patients infected with HCV-5 are on average older and have a higher viral load and more advanced fibrosis than those infected with non-HCV-5 genotypes. The current standard of care for HCV-5 chronic infection is 48 weeks of dual therapy with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. ‘Favourable’ Il28B polymorphisms a…
Sampling and repeatability in the evaluation of hepatitis C virus genetic variability.
2003
Among the experimental techniques available to study the genetic variability of RNA virus populations, the most informative involve reverse transcription (RT), amplification, cloning and sequencing. The effects of several aspects of these techniques on the estimation of genetic variability in a virus population were analysed. Hepatitis C virus populations from four patients were examined. For each patient, ten series of data derived from independent PCR amplifications of a single RT reaction were obtained. The sample size of each data set was 10 sequences (in nine series) and 100 sequences (in one series). An additional data set derived from an independent RT reaction (about 10 sequences) p…
The HCV Sicily Network: A web-based model for the management of HCV chronic liver diseases
2016
Epidemiological studies report that in Sicily reside about 30,000 citizens with a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis due to HCV. The availability of direct antiviral action (DAA) is a real therapeutic breakthrough, but the high cost of the therapeutic regimes limits their use and forced the National Health System to establish clinical priority for the treatment.The HCV Sicily Network is a web-based model of best medical practice, which was designed to improve the management and the treatment of HCV chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. The network includes 41 centers and 84 gastroenterologists or infectivologists connected by a web platform that recorder the diagnosis and the clinic priority for the…
Early viral clearance and sustained response in chronic hepatitis C: a controlled trial of interferon and ribavirin after high-dose interferon induct…
2002
High-dose induction with alpha-interferon induces early viral clearance of hepatitis C and combined with ribavirin enhances sustained response. We assess whether adding ribavirin after viral clearance obtained by alpha-interferon induction increased the rate of viral eradication.Forty-one naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C were randomised to receive, after 4 weeks of 10 mU daily of alpha-interferon (induction), 3 mU daily for 22 weeks and 3 mU thrice weekly for 26 weeks of either interferon alone (monotherapy) or interferon plus 1000-1200 mg daily of ribavirin (combination therapy). At the end of the induction phase, 23 (56%) subjects had cleared HCV-RNA. During therapy, breakthrough w…
Long-term course of chronic hepatitis C in children: from viral clearance to end-stage liver disease.
2008
Background & Aims: The natural course of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in children is not well understood. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term course of CHC in a large sample of otherwise healthy children. Methods: From 1990 to 2005, 504 consecutive antihepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive children were enrolled at 12 centers of a national observatory and were followed up retrospectively/prospectively. Results: Putative exposure was perinatal in 283 (56.2%) cases, parenteral in 158 (31.3%), and unknown in 63 (12.5%). At baseline, 477 (94.6%) cases were HCV RNA seropositive, 118 (24.7%) of which were treated with standard interferon α. Ten years after putative exposure, the outcome in …
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…
Hepatitis C virus co-infection and sexual risk behaviour are associated with a high homocysteine serum level in HIV-infected patients.
2012
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A better understanding of the relationship of homocysteine with cardiovascular risk factors is needed. The objectives of this study were to assess the serum level of homocysteine in HIV-infected patients and to analyse the possible association of increased levels of the amino acid with cardiovascular risk factors, demographic and clinical characteristics of participants. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out as a supplementary task to the usual controls necessary in HIV-infected patients in the outpatient clinic of the Hospital General of Castellon, Spain. For two consecutive visits the demographic, clinical and HIV-related characteristics and blood analyses result…