Hepatitis Weekly articles from November 2000

Hepatitis Weekly archives from November 2000

Prevailing Factors Identified in HCV Patients Who Reject Grafts Early.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) Organ transplant recipients are susceptible to graft rejection, even under the best circumstances. Patients with chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have an additional set of circumstances...

Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Negative Patients Can Still Harbor Viral Genome.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Genetic particles from the hepatitis B virus (HBV) can be present in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, even when their serum samples don't reveal evidence of viral infection, scientists say. These...

Physiological Measures Indicate Nutrition Status of End-Stage Patients.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A team of researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, says that the best indicators of nutrition status in patients with end-stage liver disease are arm-muscle circumference measurements and...

Researchers Study Hepatitis C Disease Progression Using 25-Year-Old Serum Samples.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- During the early to mid 1970s, serum samples from patients infected with acute viral hepatitis were collected and stored at a major medical facility in Australia. Twenty-five years after those samples were...

Failed Interferon Treatment Can Induce Long-Term HCV Carrier State.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists at Osaka University Hospital in Japan report that certain clinical characteristics are common to patients who show biochemical signs of hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance but have viral persistence...

Viral RNA Level is Best Predictor of Response to Interferon.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels can better predict alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization after interferon therapy than ALT levels can predict HCV RNA detection, investigators report. Yatian Zhang...

Hepatitis A and B Vaccinations Rates Improve But Majority of Gay, Bi Men Still Not Protected.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A survey conducted for the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) suggests that vaccination rates for hepatitis A and B in the U.S. have increased significantly in large urban areas, but that a majority of...

Singapore to Start Hepatitis B Vaccination Program.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Singapore plans to start testing students in secondary schools, colleges, universities, and technical schools for hepatitis B. Parliamentary secretary for health Chan Soo Sen said on October 21, 2000, that...

Canadian Patent Position Completed for Zadaxin in Hepatitis C.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals (SCLN), San Mateo, California, announced that it has received an issued patent in Canada for the use of the company's lead drug, Zadaxin, for the treatment of hepatitis C, one of the...

Expert Says Doctors Should be Able to Keep HIV Status Secret.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A leading health policy expert says the U.S. government should no longer compel HIV infected doctors to tell patients about their disease, reopening a debate that raged a decade ago after an American woman...

High Cysteine Levels in Liver Transplant Patients Increase Heart Disease Risk.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hyperhomocysteinemia - the presence of elevated levels of cysteine in the plasma - can be found in some patients who have received liver transplants, and is associated with the development of cardiovascular...

First Purification and Expansion of Hepatic Stem Cells Published.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- The antigenic profile and methods of purification of rat liver stem cells have been described in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper was written by Dr....

U.S. Congress Passes Needlestick Safety and Prevention Bill.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- On October 26, 2000, the U.S. Senate passed a U.S. House of Representatives' bill, H.R. 5178, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000. H.R. 5178 has strong bipartisan support and unanimously...

Lamivudine Has Protective Effect Against Hepatitis B in HIV Patients.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Individuals who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are highly susceptible to a number of other illnesses, including tuberculosis, hepatitis, and certain types of cancer. Researchers...

Lesbians at Same Risk for STDs as Heterosexual Women.
November 6, 2000... 2000 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Women who have sex with women are just as much at risk of sexually transmitted infections as heterosexual women, finds a study in Sexually Transmitted Infections. And high proportions have also had sex...

Plasma Kinetics Don't Explain Why Some Hepatitis B Patients are Non-Responders to Lamivudine.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- - by Sonia Bell-Nichols -- In a limited number of individuals infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), lamivudine therapy will diminish HBV DNA levels, but will not elicit a sustained response. A...

Study Questions Validity of AST/ALT Ratio to Predict Liver Disease in HCV Patients.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Findings of a recent study suggest the aspartate amino-transferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio may not be as valid a predictor of cirrhosis in hepatitis C patients as previously reported. Studies...

Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Low in HIV Patients in Singapore.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Medical investigators in Singapore reported that the number of individuals infected with both the hepatitis C virus and HIV is low in that country. They announced the findings of their epidemiological...

Cirrhosis, Not Hepatitis B Virus, Slows Gastrointestinal Motility.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- While hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients with cirrhosis suffer slow gastrointestinal motility, it is because of cirrhosis and not the virus itself that they do so, report researchers in the European Journal of...

Immunization Would be Economically Beneficial in Argentine Children.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Routine vaccination of children in Argentina against hepatitis A virus (HAV) would be economically beneficial, researchers from that country announced. "HAV remains one of the most frequently reported...

DNA Vaccine Stimulates Unique Immunogenicity.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- A hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA vaccine stimulates immunomodulatory responses and may have therapeutic benefit, researchers in Hong Kong report. "HBsAg [hepatitis B surface antigen] encoded in...

Study Results Explain Why Hepatitis D Won't Replicate in Avian Cells.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hepatitis D virus (HDV) replicates independently in a vast array of mammalian cells, but not in avian cells. Scientists say that HDV expression can be toxic to avian cells, thus explaining why HDV...

Characteristics of Dysplastic Nodules Could be Disease Predictors.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Osaka City University researchers say some dysplastic nodules characteristics that might make them unique identifiers for patients who are at increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Dysplastic...

Interim Combination Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Data Presented.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (XTL), Rehovot, Israel, presented promising data on the antiviral activity and safety of HBV-AbsXTL (XTL-001) from a Phase I trial in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected...

Ribozyme Product Results Presented.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- In panel discussions, plenary sessions, and poster presentations at the Annual American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Meeting, held in Dallas, Texas, during October 2000, Dr. Lawrence M....

Study Results Suggest Hope for Previously Untreatable Patients.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Of the nearly four million Americans who suffer from hepatitis C, an estimated one million cannot begin or must discontinue treatment with the current standard of care due to thrombocytopenia (low platelet...

Liver Damage Improved with Antiviral Treatment.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- BioChem Pharma Inc. (BCHE; BCH), Laval, Quebec, Canada, announced that the liver damage suffered by hepatitis B patients has been shown to be improved by antiviral treatment. A study presented at the...

Immunotherapeutic Suppresses Hepatitis-B-Associated Cancer in Mice.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Enzo Biochem, Inc., (ENZ), reported that in preclinical animal studies of the company's proprietary immune regulation product, EHT899, researchers in Israel had achieved complete suppression of HBV-associated...

Joint Research Effort Focuses on Deadly Hepatitis C Strain.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- A researcher at Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, is getting U.S. federal funding for his study to find why some people with hepatitis C can fight off the liver disease. The U.S. National Institutes of...

Phase I Clinical Trial Results Reported for Enzo Drug.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Enzo Biochem, Inc., (ENZ), reported that 80% of the patients in a Phase I clinical trial of EHT899, the company's medicine for treatment of hepatitis B virus, responded favorably as measured by a decrease in...

Hepatitis C Patients in the U.K. to Get New Treatment.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients in Britain will get the most up-to-date treatment for hepatitis C, following recommendations issued October 31, 2000, by the U.K. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). Health...

Maxim Reports 12-Week Results from Hepatitis C Study in Non-Responder Patients.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Maxim Pharmaceuticals (NM: MAXM; MAXM) announced the 12-week results from its clinical study to evaluate the safety of triple-drug therapy incorporating the company's lead drug Maxamine (histamine...

Phase III Pivotal Peg-Intron Plus Rebetol Study Results Reported.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Enzon, Inc. (ENZN) announced that Schering-Plough Corporation (SGP) reported results of a pivotal Phase III clinical study, presented for the first time at the Presidential Plenary Session of the 51st Annual...

Preliminary Study Findings for Adefovir Dipivoxil Reported.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) announced results from an ongoing open-label pilot study evaluating the safety and efficacy of adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg once daily as a treatment for lamivudine-resistant chronic...

Effect of Zadaxin on Immune Response of HBV Patients Described.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals (SCLN), San Mateo, California, announced that a study presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), held in Dallas, Texas,...

Health Care Workers at Risk of Bloodborne Virus Exposure.
November 13, 2000... 2000 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Study results indicate 19% of patients admitted to the emergency room of a Mexico City hospital are infected with at least one blood-transmissible virus. "The frequency of hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B...

International Study Reveals Hepatitis B Risk Factors.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- An international consortium of research institutions has been lending their knowledge and resources to a major endeavor called The Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Pattern Study. One outcome of that study...

WHO Center Investigates Two-Dose Schedule for Combination Vaccine in Children.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis, located at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, propose that a combination hepatitis A and B...

Study Defines Best Way to Test Shellfish for Viral Contaminants.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- A comparative analysis of four methods for detecting viral contaminants, including hepatitis A virus, has shown that using a glycine buffer at a pH of 10.0 presents the best way to recover and analyze phages...

Elderly Recipients Have Shorter Long-Term Survival.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Long-term survival after liver transplantation is shorter in the elderly than it is in younger patients. Duke University researchers made that pronouncement based on evidence gathered from a study of...

Hepatitis C Virus Rates Persist at Dutch Hemodialysis Centers.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientific evidence documenting the reasons for hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence in Dutch dialysis units was recently presented at Renal Week 2000, a major conference hosted by the American Society of...

DNA Adducts Change with Age But Not Liver Disease Progression.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Special compounds in the liver associate with progressive age in Helicobacter hepaticus-infected mice, but not with liver disease, say researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. These compounds,...

Prophylactic and Post-Transplantation Lamivudine Therapy Prevents Reinfection.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Lamivudine therapy, when administered before and after liver transplantation, will prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV) reinfection in many instances. Investigators at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in England...

Japan's 1980s Hepatitis C Outbreak Now Under Study.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Use of tainted and untreated blood products in Japan in the early 1980s resulted in an outbreak of hepatitis C that the government is only now starting to address. According to a report from the Asahi...

Treatment of Hepatitis C in HIV Patients is Cost-Effective.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients co-infected with HIV is cost-effective, researchers in the United States assert. "The majority of persons infected with HIV from intravenous...

China Coping with Rise in Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Trying to combat a surge in sexually transmitted diseases, Chinese officials will crack down on quack doctors and set up a new center to oversee treatment. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were...

Care Has Improved in Scotland.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study of the quality of care given to people with bleeding disorders in central Scotland through the years 1980-1994 showed improvements, researchers in that country reported. "To estimate the resources...

Basiliximab Immunosuppression Beneficial to Children.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- The use of basiliximab (BX) combined with low-dose calcineurin inhibitors reduces nephrotoxicity complications in children after liver transplantation, researchers in the United Kingdom reported. "Liver...

NIH Funds Blood and Oral Fluid Test Development.
November 20, 2000... 2000 NOV 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- OraSure Technologies, Inc. (OSUR), announced that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved a grant of nearly $1 million to fund Phase II of the company's project to develop a test for...