Hepatitis Weekly articles from February 2001

Hepatitis Weekly archives from February 2001

Mayo Clinic Report Measures Public Health Impact of Hepatitis C.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Recently, a report of the impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections on public health was reported in the journal Hepatology. HCV, when undetected...

New Culture System Allows Long-Term Replication of Hepatitis C Virus RNA.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV), with its many genotypes, is complicated to culture in vitro, thus the difficulty with developing a vaccine for this infection in...

Asthma Drug Zafirlukast Related to Three Cases of Severe Hepatitis.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- The asthma drug zafirlukast has caused three cases of severe hepatitis, according to a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Medical investigators...

New Methods Identifies Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Response to HCV in Blood.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins researchers have announced that hepatitis C virus specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes can be identified in peripheral...

Patients See Survival Increase with Pentoxifylline.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor pentoxifylline (PTX) improves short-term survival prospects in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis. ...

Atypical Lupus Symptoms Should Prompt Testing for Hepatitis C Virus.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Systemic lupus erythematosus patients who show symptoms uncommon to lupus should be given tests for hepatitis C virus (HCV). By doing so, early...

Adenovirus/Interleukin-12 Shows Promise Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- A new way of treating hepatocellular carcinoma has been discovered by researchers in Spain. If the results of preliminary tests performed on animals are...

Cytokines, Liver Disease Activity Reflect Hepatitis B Disease Status.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Scientists now say cytokine profiles can be used to assess disease status in patients with chronic hepatitis B. These profiles mark circulating...

Mice Inoculated with Hepatitis B Tagged Microspheres Show Good Immune Response.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Tiny microspheres embedded with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) may comprise the next generation of drug delivery systems for hepatitis B vaccines, if...

Results Positive for Hepatitis C Response to Interferon Beta-1a.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Interferon-alpha therapy, whether used alone or in combination with ribavirin, is a mainstay for hepatitis C virus treatment. Recombinant interferon beta-1a...

Hormones, Genes, and Liver Cancer May Have Common Link in Chronic Hepatitis B.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Male sufferers of chronic hepatitis B with higher levels of testosterone and fewer repeats of a particular gene sequence could be at greater risk for...

Genotype a Key Response Indicator for Interferon/Ribavirin Induction Therapy.
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype provides the best indicator of sustained patient response to short-term combination therapy followed by monotherapy,...

Hepatitis C Modulation of Interleukin-2 May Be Cause for Viral Persistence.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Viral modulation of interleukin-2 (IL-2) may be the reason for irregular T-cell response and viral persistence in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections,...

Long-Term Lamivudine Use After Liver Transplant Has Down Side.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Though chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients are sometimes given liver transplants to increase survival, following transplantation, the very treatment...

Genes May Limit Proper Cell Regeneration in Liver Cancer Patients.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Genetic instability may be a factor that precludes some liver cancer patients from regenerating liver cells properly, a Japanese study proposes. ...

Hybridization Technique Finds Differential Gene Expression in Hepatitis C Livers.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Researchers have found four genetic differences in the liver of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection that are not common to patients without...

Interferon/Interleukin Decreases Cytokine that Prevents Depression.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- New research reports a link between combined interferon-alpha and interleukin (IL)-2 therapy and decreased activity of a serum cytokine that would...

Hepatitis B Mutation Thwarts Nucleoside Analogues at Cost of Reduced Replication.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hepatitis B virus polymerase point mutants blunt the effect of nucleoside analogues - but at a cost. As with HIV, the distribution of variants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can shift in response...

Study Investigates Hepatitis C Prevalence in Nile Delta.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- International research efforts have identified marriage as a key risk factor for hepatitis C virus infection in the Nile Delta. University of Maryland...

Cells Lack Growth Factor Receptors, Escape Inhibitory Signals.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are lacking significant levels of a special growth factor receptor on their liver cells. The lack of this...

Treatable Condition Might Be Missed in Primary Care.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Treatable chronic liver disease might be being missed in primary care because abnormal test results for liver function are often not adequately investigated. Researchers from the Queen's...

Combination Therapy for Hepatitis B Increases T-Helper Cell, Cytokine Response.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Combination drug therapy incorporating ribavirin and interferon (IFN)-alpha elicits long-term immune response in hepatitis B virus patients. T helper...

Parental Exposure, HIV, Keep Viral Persistence High in Italy.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- TT virus persistence continues to remain high in Italy, particularly in individuals with parental exposure and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)...

St. John's Wort Derivative Not Effective Against Hepatitis C.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- A Phase I clinical trial has shown no evidence that the St. John's Wort extract hypericin is an effective treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C....

Testing Cornea Donors for HCV Recommended.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- Corneas set aside for transplant harbor hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, research from Canada indicates. Potential corneal transplant donors should...

Unsafe and Overuse of Injections Can Lead to Hepatitis B Infection.
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most Romanians are aware of the risk for HIV infection associated with the reuse of syringes and needles, but few recognize the potential risk for hepatitis B virus transmission. Romanian...