ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Screening and determining the immune status of individuals for hepatitis B is usually done bydetecting hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B surface antigen-specificantibodies (HBsAb). In some countries with the highest viral burden, performing these assaysis currently impractical. This paper explores the use of filter paper as ...

BACKGROUND: The immunopathogenesis of dual chronic infection with hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus (HBV/HCV) remains unclear. The in vivo suppressive effects of each virus on the other have been reported. In this study we aimed to analyze the virological and immunological parameters of HBV/HCV coinfected patients during pegylated ...

Blood transfusion carries well defined risks including hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus transmission. In this study, records of blood donation candidates between the years 1996-2010 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 220 841 apparently healthy adult donors were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-HCV with enzyme linked immunosorbent ...

Nonstandard drugs that target critical pathogenic pathways or immune regulatory mechanisms constitute the next generation of treatments for autoimmune hepatitis. Mycophenolate mofetil impairs the proliferation of lymphocytes, decreases autoantibody production, and induces apoptosis of activated immunocytes. Patients treated for azathioprine intolerance improve more frequently than patients treated for refractory liver ...

We evaluated quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) assays and a hepatitis B virus (HBV) core-related antigen (HBcrAg) assay. A total of 529 serum samples from patients with hepatitis B were tested. HBsAg levels were determined by using the Elecsys (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN) and Architect (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, ...

Diagnosis and monitoring of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection relies mainly on the detection of HCV antibodies and HCV RNA. HCV antibody test has a longer window period and is not applicable in the immunosuppressed population. Although HCV RNA test reduces the window period, it is still not widely recommended ...

Studies that reported hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have caused attention of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-related HBV reactivation. Most of the studies were focused on HBV reactivation risk of biologic DMARDs; insufficient data are available to identify the exact risk of conventional DMARD (c-DMARD)-related HBV ...

A 36-year-old man was diagnosed with plasma-cell type Castleman's disease with the presentation of recurrent lymphadenpathy of the neck. HIV infection was not suspected or confirmed until esophageal candidiasis developed one year later. Meanwhile, surgery was performed for intestinal intussusception and obstruction caused by lymphocyte-depletion Hodgkin lymphoma. However, he died ...

Delayed HIV-1 disease progression is associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism upstream of the HLA-C gene that correlates with differential expression of the HLA-C Ag. This polymorphism was recently shown to be a marker for a protective variant in the 3'UTR of HLA-C that disrupts a microRNA binding site, resulting ...

BACKGROUND.: Interleukin(IL)28B polymorphisms have been associated to interferon(IFN)-induced viral clearance in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Whether this is also true for patients with the difficult to cure HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B, is unknown. METHODS.: 101 HBeAg-negative patients (92% genotype D) with compensated chronic hepatitis B (84% males, 46 years, ...

Chronic viral hepatitis is no longer a contraindication to renal transplantation (RT), owing to our better understanding of the hepatitis virus. Hepatitis patients may receive RT depending on their response to viral therapy. RT patients with hepatitis generally do not have an inferior prognosis compared with RT patients without the ...

INTRODUCTION Hair loss is an uncommon manifestation of secondary syphilis. Its clinical manifestations include diffuse effluvium or patchy 'moth-eaten' pattern of alopecia. Although syphilitic alopecia is non-scarring hair loss often associated with other mucocutaneous lesions of secondary syphilis, it might well be the only presenting symptom of syphilis. Secondary syphilis ...

Background. Natural killer (NK) cells are an important component of the innate immune defense against viruses, including hepatitis C virus (HCV). The cell culture system using HCV-permissive Huh-7.5 cells make studies on interaction of NK cells and HCV-infected target cells possible. We used this system to characterize interactions of HCV-infected Huh-7.5 ...

A new hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (HCV Ag) assay was thought to have a good correlation with HCV RNA. The aim was to elucidate the usefulness of this HCV Ag assay in community screening. In an HCV-endemic township, 405 residents aged 58 years or older, responded to a ...

BackgroundCirrhosis of the liver can induce splenic sequestration of peripheral blood cells, recently suggested to reduce the number but not percentage of circulating CD4+ T-cells in HIV-uninfected persons. We investigated whether earlier stages of liver fibrosis prior to cirrhosis were associated with discordance between CD4 count (CD4N) and CD4 percentage ...

BACKGROUND: New drugs are needed to combat HBV infection. We investigated the anti-HBV activity of the deoxycytidine analogue FNC, which has anticancer activity and has been found to inhibit HCV replication. METHODS: In this study, a human hepatoma HepG2.2.15 cell culture system and duck HBV (DHBV) infection model were used ...

PURPOSE: To determine the clinical, epidemiological and prognostic factors of HIV-infected patients with influenza A H1N1 admitted to hospital. METHODS: The study population was HIV infected patients with confirmed influenza infection admitted to hospital in a multicenter cohort. We analyzed demographic data, comorbid conditions, severe events (bronchopneumonia, respiratory insufficiency, respiratory ...

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a distinct type of diffuse B cell lymphoma that typically occurs in the oral cavity of patients with HIV infection or immunodeficiency status. PBL is characterized by its plasmablastic morphology and an immunophenotype indicative of a plasma cell differentiation. We present a case of a 75-year-old ...

Screening with hepatitis B surface antigen is highly recommended for at risk individuals. Mutations in the HBsAg can result in an inability to detect the virus during routine screening. We describe a hemodialysis patient found to have high HBV DNA and HBV antibody, but negative HBsAg on two routine assays.

This study investigates the short-term effects of HAART on PD-1 expression and lymphocyte function. We compared samples from HIV-infected adults prior to the initiation of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) with lymphocytes from these subjects following two months of treatment. Short-term HAART resulted in a moderate increase in the expression ...

Our previous studies found that patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) had a higher incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in serum than patients with T-cell NHL or other cancers. We sought to identify a possible role of HBV infection in B-cell NHL tumorigenesis and to understand its underlying ...

The kinetics of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels prior to spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance has not been fully investigated. The kinetics of HBsAg and HBV DNA of 203 treatment-naïve, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients with spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance were compared with 203 age-, sex-matched HBeAg-negative controls. Serum samples at ...

A small number of HIV-infected individuals known as elite controllers experience low levels of chronic phase viral replication and delayed progression to AIDS. Specific HLA class I alleles are associated with elite control, implicating CD8(+) T lymphocytes in the establishment of these low levels of viral replication. Most HIV-infected individuals ...

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a non-resolving inflammatory liver disease. Inflammation showing plasma cells under hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stain is typical of AIH. In many cases, however, only lymphocytes and occasional granulocytes are found. It was recently noticed that the antibody to multiple myeloma oncogene 1/IRF4 (MUM1), stained plasma cells and their ...

CD4 lymphocyte cells are often used as prognostic markers for monitoring the progression of immunosupression such as HIV infection. This study was conducted to assess the distribution of CD4 lymphocytes among apparently healthy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seronegative and seropositive populations in a Nigerian state. A total of 1520 apparently ...

Quantification of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) helps the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Median HBsAg levels differ significantly during the natural history of HBV infection, progressively declining from immune tolerance to inactive phase. The combination of an HBsAg <1000 IU/mL and HBV DNA ...

CD4 T-lymphocytes play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the human immune system. They are also the primary target cells for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The progressive depletion of these cells eventually results in weakening of the host's immune ability to fight against any pathogen, thus rendering the ...

BACKGROUND: Entecavir is an effective treatment for chronic hepatitis B. However, data from clinical practice are limited, especially in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed data from 190 nucleos(t)ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients treated with entecavir (0.5 mg/day) in 25 Spanish centres. Virological response (hepatitis B ...

A subset of CD8(+) T cells can secrete interleukin 17 (IL-17). However, very little information is currently available about their antigen specificity, tissue distribution, and biological relevance in chronic human viral infection. To address these issues, we comprehensively analyzed peripheral and intrahepatic CD8(+) T-cell responses in a cohort of patients ...

Combinations of KIR3DL1 and HLA-Bw4 alleles protect from HIV infection and/or disease progression. These combinations enhance NK cell responsiveness through the ontological process of education. However, educated KIR3DL1(+) NK cells do not have enhanced degranulation upon direct recognition of autologous HIV-infected cells. Since ADCC is associated with improved HIV infection ...

The antiretroviral agent abacavir can cause hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) and the presence of HLA-B*57:01 is predictive of abacavir-HSR in Caucasian HIV-infected patients. However, abacavir-HSR also occurs in HLA-B*57:01 negative patients. In these patients, a safe diagnostic tool to dissect clinically suspected HSR against abacavir from adverse reactions against co-administered drugs ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have a high risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with lower levels of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) have higher chances of losing HBsAg than those with high levels. However, little is known about whether higher levels of ...

BACKGROUND: Fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) may contain antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg, anti-HBs). These anti-HBs may lead to a misinterpretation of the actual hepatitis B immune status. Furthermore, they may not only confer protection against hepatitis B virus (HBV), but may also favor the selection of HBsAg mutants. CASE ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The arrival of new chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapies requires characterization of patients in order to predict adequate treatment. A good candidate marker is Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) which is involved in progression of HCV infection. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect ...

OBJECTIVE:: To assess the effect of antigen-exposure on the T-cell repertoire in the chronic phase of HIV-infection. DESIGN:: This is a prospective cross-sectional study. METHODS:: HIV-seropositive patients and immunocompetent controls from tuberculosis low and high-endemic countries were recruited. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (purified protein derivative; PPD)-specific CD4 T-cell responses were quantified directly ...

Little is known about the predictors of antiretroviral treatment (ART)-associated tuberculosis (TB) in developing nations. The objective of this study was to determine predictors of ART-associated TB in adults with HIV infection at Jimma University Hospital, Ethiopia. A nested case-control study was conducted in October 2009. The study population consisted ...

STUDY BACKGROUND: Poor CD4 T-lymphocyte responses to anti-retroviral treatment (ART) are associated with increased HIV disease progression and mortality. In sub-Saharan Africa a substantial proportion of HIV infected patients are co-infected with TB. This study evaluated the effect of active TB presenting after ART initiation on immunological responses to ART. ...

To better understand the qualitative features of effective HIV-specific immunity, we examined the TCR clonal composition of CD8(+) T-cells recognizing conserved HIV p24-derived epitopes in HLA-B*5701(+) long-term nonprogressors/elite controllers and HLA-matched progressors. Both groups displayed oligoclonal HLA-B5701-restricted p24-specific CD8(+) T cell responses with similar levels of diversity and few public ...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease. Although infection of hepatocytes is mainly responsible for manifestations of hepatitis C, the virus also invades the immune system by as a yet-to-be identified mechanism. Using human T cell lines and primary T lymphocytes as targets ...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the clinical virological characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in chronic HBV infection patients of different ages, especially in relapse patients and patients with immune clearance. METHODS: The HBV clinical virological characteristics of chronic HBV infection were investigated in 1572 Chinese patients of different ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The clinical outcomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers are favorable following hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical course of spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance and the factors predicting it. METHODS: A total of 423 patients who tested positive ...

We evaluated the cost implications of medical male circumcisions for HIV prevention when performed using re-usable equipment that is sterilized after each use versus using single-use disposal kits. In Uganda, a re-usable circumcision kit results in a net saving of US$7.14-US$12.34 or 46-59%. In resource-limited settings seeking to expand access ...

Natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that is seen with increased frequency in HIV infection and in transplant recipients. This case report describes an unusual case of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma in a patient with advanced HIV disease in which gastric involvement was a significant feature.

Background: Hepatitis E is being increasingly recognized as an emerging infection in developed countries. Data on histological findings and nature of inflammatory cell infiltrate in liver in this disease are quite sparse. Aims: This study was planned to study the histological features and the type of inflammatory infiltrate in liver ...

Most outbreaks of viral hepatitis in India are caused by hepatitis E. Recently in the year 2009, Modasa town of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat witnessed the outbreak of hepatitis B. An attempt was made to study the outbreak clinically and serologically, to estimate the seropositivity of hepatitis B Virus among ...

Interferon alpha (IFNα) therapy, despite good efficacy in curing HCV infection, leads to major side effects, in particular inducement of a strong peripheral T-cell lymphocytopenia. We here analyze the early consequences of IFNα therapy on both thymic function and peripheral T-cell homeostasis in patients in the acute or chronic phase ...

The GIHU004 study was designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of three doses of DermaVir immunization in HIV-infected subjects on fully suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). This first-in-human dose escalation study was conducted with three topical DermaVir doses targeted to epidermal Langerhans cells to express fifteen HIV antigens in ...

We describe the CD4 lymphocyte count at HIV presentation in an HIV cohort from a rural district of India. The majority of patients were diagnosed for their HIV-related symptoms, although a sizeable proportion of women were diagnosed because of antenatal screening or for having an HIV-positive partner. Patients diagnosed of ...

Summary.  To evaluate T cell immunity in advanced liver disease, antigen-specific lymphoproliferative (LP) responses were prospectively studied in the context of the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-term Treatment against Cirrhosis trial. Peripheral blood responses to hepatitis C virus (HCV), tetanus and Candida protein antigens were measured at baseline, month 12 (M12), ...

: A higher frequency of nonmonogamy, due in part to lower marriage prevalence, may contribute to elevated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted disease rates among older blacks. : To examine race and gender differences in nonmonogamy, time spent single (i.e., not married or cohabiting), and HIV testing in older adults, ...