Hepatitis Weekly articles from February 2000

Hepatitis Weekly archives from February 2000

Six Mutant HCV Clone Derivatives Identified.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers have constructed 6 mutant derivatives of a previously identified infectious hepatitis C virus clone in an effort to further the development of a hepatitis C vaccine. Hepatitis C virus (HCV)...

IFN-gamma and iNOS Gene Expression Increased in HCV.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Interferon gamma and inducible nitric oxide synthase transcripts are increased in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus. Pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) associated liver injury is thought to be...

HCV Lesions Not Affected by Liver Iron.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Liver lesions caused by excessive alcohol consumption are exacerbated by increased liver iron stores, but lesions caused by hepatitis C virus infection are not. In this study, N. Ganne-Carrie and...

Differences in HBV Genotypes Examined in South Africa.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in South Africa report on genotypic differences within hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was partitioned into type, subtype and isolate categories and the average evolutionary...

Stopping HCV is Best Way to Reduce Liver Cancers.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Preventing hepatitis C virus infections is the most important factor in reducing the incidence of hepatocellular cancer, a study from Japan suggests. Researcher M. Mori and colleagues from the Saga Medical...

IFN Cost Effective for Chronic HCV in Children.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Interferon therapy is cost effective in children with chronic hepatitis C infection, a study from Ohio's Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron finds. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection in pediatric...

Pharmacokinetics of Glycyrrhizin Explored.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- A European study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of the hepatitis C virus agent glycyrrhizin. Intravenous glycyrrhizin has been used in Japan for the treatment of chronic hepatitis for more than 20 years,...

Study Explains Difficulty in Finding Anti-PreS2 Antibodies.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Germany report on the mapping of immunodominant B-cell epitopes and the human serum albumin-binding site in natural hepatitis B virus surface antigen of defined genotype. Twelve MAbs were...

Human Epitope in HCV Core Protein Identified.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in France have identified a human epitope in hepatitis C virus core protein. Healthy carriers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection exhibit a specific antibody response against all HCV antigens,...

Performance of Commercial Assay for Hepatitis E Antibody of Concern.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- A comparison study of assays for hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibody detection found a widely used commercial test was less sensitive and produced more inconsistent results than assays developed by the US...

Increase in Liver Cancer in Egypt due to Hepatitis C Virus.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- The trend in increasing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma among patients with chronic liver disease in Egypt is due principally to the hepatitis C virus, researchers report. "Previous reports have...

Recombinant HEV Vaccine Tested in Monkeys.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- In a pre-clinical study, 2 doses of a recombinant hepatitis E vaccine provided effective and safe protection against the virus in rhesus monkeys. Smithkline Beecham Biologicals has produced a vaccine from...

Cooperative Agreement for Candidate HIV/AIDS Vaccine Announced.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Avant Immunotherapetics, Inc., announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) for the use of...

Professional and Patient Groups Join to Advocate for Safer Blood.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Calling for stepped up efforts to protect blood transfusion recipients from serious and deadly diseases like AIDS and hepatitis, the Committee of Ten Thousand, the Hepatitis B Foundation, and other...

RPI Announces Hepatitis B Virus Ribozyme Patent Issuance.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced US Patent Office issuance of its patent No. 6,017,756 covering ribozymes targeting hepatitis B virus. "The ribozyme approach to inhibiting viral replication was...

SciClone Initiates Study of Zadaxin Plus Lamivudine for Hepatitis B.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals announced the start of a US Phase II hepatitis B study using Zadaxin, the company's host immune system enhancer (h-ISE), in combination with lamivudine, a US Food and Drug...

Merck's Two-Dose Hepatitis B Vaccine Approved for Adolescent Use.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a 2-dose regimen of Recombivax HB, Merck & Co, Inc's vaccine to prevent hepatitis B, may help to protect adolescents 11 to 15 years of age against this...

Hepatitis C Patients Undergoes Living Donor Partial Liver Transplant.
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- George A. bought his first Harley-Davidson motorcycle just over a year ago. In the process of filling out the paperwork, he met "an angel" who in late December 1999 saved his life by donating half of her...

Shots, Not Oral Vaccine, Are Best Safeguard Against Polio.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2000... 2000 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com) -- Children should be given polio shots instead of the oral vaccine to avoid a tiny chance of a polio infection from the oral dose, the US government announced. Last summer (1999), an advisory panel concluded...

Investigators Potentially Identify Pathogenesis Role.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cytolethal distending toxin activity in Helicobacter hepaticus might direct researchers toward understanding the virulence factor associated with enterohepatic Helicobacter species. This is according to...

Mucosal Vascular Addressin Plays Role for Lymphocyte Presence.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) may play a role in the circulation of lymphocytes to inflamed livers, scientists report in the journal Liver. Scientists already know the role that...

Serum Alpha-fetoprotein Markers Should Not Be Used Alone.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- High levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) often indicate the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, scientists in Japan say that it should not be used as the only marker for diagnosing HCC....

Cyclooxygenase-2 Associated with Shorter Disease-Free Survival.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is of limited value in predicting disease-free survival in patients who have had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research. The...

Midkine Gene Found in Tumors, Rarely in Surrounding Tissue.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Okayama, Japan, report that the Midkine gene, which is known for expression in various types of cancers, can be found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue, but not often in surrounding...

Retreatment of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C.(interferon retreatment analysis)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study conducted by scientists in Italy has shown that interferon retreatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) may slow down disease activity, but not to a great extent. A. Spadaro and...

Dual Administration of HAV and Yellow Fever Vaccines Evaluated.(Hepatitis A virus)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers from Switzerland evaluated the tolerance and immunogenicity of the simultaneous administration of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and yellow fever vaccines. "The purpose of this study was to evaluate...

Hepatitis B DNA Core Differs by Geographical Region.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) who live in Far Eastern and Mediterranean countries tend to have mutations in the DNA core and precore promoter regions of the virus that vary according to geographical...

Children's Immunization Campaign Launched at World Economic Forum.(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- A global alliance of business leaders, philanthropic foundations, development banks, United Nations agencies, and national governments urged the world's economic powerbrokers to view children as the key to...

Prevention Is Key To Curbing Cancer.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Behavior changes, vaccines, and screening for early detection are the best hopes of curbing the cancer epidemic expected to escalate in the coming decades, cancer experts said. "We have much of the...

Hepatic Oxygen Metabolism Examined During Liver Regeneration.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Changes in hepatic venous oxygen saturation (Shvo2) are inversely correlated with the hepatic oxygen consumption (HVo2) following partial hepatectomy in rats. According to researchers from Japan, changes...

Hepatitis C Virus Nucleic Acid Controls for Blood Screening Released.(by AcroMetrix)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- AcroMetrix, Berkeley, California, announced the release of hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleic acid controls for blood screening and medical diagnostic laboratories worldwide. The NAC HCV RNA controls are...

Saskatchewan Government: New Drug Benefiting Hepatitis C Patients.(Rebetron)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 14, 2000... 2000 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com) -- Dozens of hepatitis C patients in the Saskatchewan province of Canada are benefiting from a new drug approved in 1999 under the province's Drug Plan. Rebetron was added to the Drug Plan last April under...

Hepatitis C Virus Transmission Still Problematic for Dialysis Patients.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists say that dialysis patients in Germany are at risk for acquiring hepatitis C virus, according to a study report published in the February 2000 issue of Journal of Medical Virology. This risk...

Case Study Implicates Chronic Venous Congestion of the Liver.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists in Japan recently presented a case study concerning an elderly man with Budd-Chiari syndrome, hepatocellular carcinoma, and no evidence of hepatitis virus. Budd-Chiari syndrome is often...

Food Hygiene and Decline in Orofecal Infections May Underlie Epidemic of Asthma and Rhinitis in Developed World.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A decline in orofecal infections and a westernized, semi-sterile diet may be the root of the epidemic of allergic asthma and rhinitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines the nose) in developed...

Hepatitis A Virus Found in Adolescents of Larnaca, Cyprus.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study of juveniles in Larnaca, Cyprus, has shown an outbreak of hepatitis A virus among the older adolescents in this region. Study leader A. Hadjipanayis and co-workers in Dherynia, Cyprus, conducted...

Case Study Identifies High Carrier Rate in Congo.(GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) carriers )(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study has identified a high prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) carriers in some pregnant women of Kinshasa, Congo. The study was reported in the February 2000 issue of the Journal...

Autoclaving Monitors Can Prevent HCV Contamination.(hepatitis C virus )(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study has demonstrated that autoclaving the monitors used for the dialysis of kidney patients can prevent the spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study is reported in the February 2000 issue of the...

Cancer Associated with Oxidative DNA Damage.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Oxidative damage to DNA may be one of the early events that brings about hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C patients. 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) may serve as a marker for indicating...

Microwave Coagulation Technique Provides Chance for Cure.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A recent case study indicates that microwave coagulation therapy may result in long-term cure for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Personnel at Ehime University's School of Medicine, Japan,...

Response Limited in Patients Treated for Hepatitis C.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients with chronic hepatitis C who received (beta)-interferon ((beta)-IFN) in a long-term trial did not significantly benefit from the therapy, scientists say. The scientists, who are researchers at...

Therapeutic Agent Inhibits Hepatitis B Virus in Some Patients.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Levamisole may be a useful agent for combating hepatitis B virus, researchers in Bulgaria report. According to the researchers, this agent may be useful for treating patients who do not respond to...

Expression of Cytokine Enhanced with Hepatitis C Virus.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- The cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) may play a significant role in the inflammatory disease processes of chronic hepatitis C. This role has been studied by researchers at Japan's Niigata University and was...

Once-A-Day HAART Regimen Containing Emtricitabine Shows Potent Antiviral Activity.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Durham, North Carolina, announced that researchers from the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA (ANRS) in France presented preliminary data from a pilot study. The...

Genotype Affects Hepatitis C Viral Load in Patients with HIV.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study conducted in New York indicates that CCR5Delta32 affects the hepatitis C virus (HCV) viral load in patients also infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). M.H. Kaplan and colleagues of the...

Medication for Patients with HIV and Tuberculosis May Interact.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Many complications arise when trying to treat patients with both tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. For example, many of the new medications used to treat HIV may have a negative effect on TB therapy, according...

Combined (alpha)-Interferon, Ribavirin Therapy Effects Sustained Reponse.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study prepared by researchers in Spain has determined that a combined therapy of (alpha)-interferon ((alpha)-IFN) and ribavirin in patients with both chronic hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus...

Study of HIV Positive Homosexual Men Finds Higher Rate of Associated Virus.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Homosexual men who are positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a greater chance of also being positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) than homosexual men who are HIV negative. This is...

Early Mortality in HIV(+) Women Prevented with HAART.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- In seeking to determine the cause of death in HIV infected women, scientists have come upon three factors which contribute to early mortality: lack of antiviral treatment, insufficient hepatitis vaccination,...

HCV RNA May Predict HIV Clinical Progression.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- In patients with hemophilia, the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA may be an independent predictor of HIV clinical progression, according to researchers in the United States. HCV/HIV co-infection is...

HIV Impacts Liver Disease in Patients Exposed to Hepatitis.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- End-stage liver disease occurred earlier and more frequently in the HIV positive patients with hemophilia. Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV co-infection is the major co-morbid condition in hemophilia. However,...

Recovery from Hepatitis C May Depend on Characteristics of Immune Response.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Recovery for the chronic hepatitis C patient most likely depends on the specific type of immune response expressed, according to M.J. Koziel of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard University...

Alphavirus Vaccine Efficient for Gene Delivery.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Novel alphavirus vaccine vectors are efficient tools for gene delivery to dendritic cells (DCs), researchers from the United States reported. "DCs are the most potent antigen presenting cell population...

Pre-Surgical Therapy Indicated When Index Value is Low.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in France have evidence that hepatic transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) will benefit some hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients if performed prior to hepatectomy. Patients with an index...

Interferon alfa-2b Drug Accepted for FDA Review.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Enzon, Inc., announced that Schering-Plough Corporations' Biologics License Application (BLA) for PEG-INTRON(TM) has been accepted for standard review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ...

Volume of Procedures Performed May Impact Patient Survival.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- The volume of liver transplantation procedures at transplantation centers may impact patient outcome. Liver transplantation outcome data at transplantation centers should be made available to the public,...

Lead Compounds Against Common Cold Virus Developed.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cytoclonal Pharmaceutics Inc., Dallas, Texas, announced the development of several active lead compounds to inhibit rhinoviruses, the most frequent cause of the common cold. The lead compounds inhibit the...

Newspaper Reports Cancer Patients Possibly Exposed to AIDS Virus and Hepatitis C.
February 21, 2000... 2000 FEB 21 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Houston, Texas, and Memphis, Tennessee, may have accidentally exposed more than two dozen young cancer patients to the virus that causes AIDS in a gene therapy experiment, the Washington Post...