Fibroscan Compared to FIB-4, APRI, and AST/ALT Ratio for Assessment of Liver Fibrosis in Saudi Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Conclusions: The data showed that more than one-third of the cohort exhibited advanced fibrosis, demonstrating the need for the early diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD. The use of Fibroscan with other serum markers has been shown to be helpful for the diagnosis of severe fibrosis. (Source: Hepatitis Monthly)
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - July 2, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

A Survey of Knowledge, Individual Perceived Risk, General Perceived Risk, and Behavioral Intentions Regarding Hepatitis B among Students in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at Shahrekord Islamic Azad University in 2014
Conclusions: According to the results of this study, it is necessary to implement educational intervention in order to allow students to identify risk factors and overcome barriers to understanding the implications of the disease in this context.,Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 300 students from the Faculty of nursing, midwifery and health at Shahrekord Islamic Azad University. The students answered questionnaires with items covering demographic characteristics, individual knowledge, public risk perception, perceived personal risk, and behavioral intentions regarding hepatitis B. The da...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - July 2, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Prevalence of Hepatitis C Among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Conclusions: Our analysis shows that the overall prevalence of anti-HCV was significantly biased towards people who inject drugs; resulting in an over-estimation of anti-HCV prevalence among Aboriginal people. Our review highlights that unsafe injecting is the main transmission route for HCV infection among Aboriginal people in Australia.,Results: Overall, 15 studies met our inclusion criteria. Among Aboriginal people in prison, the pooled prevalence of anti-HCV was 18.1% (95%CI: 6.6 - 29.7). The pooled prevalence among Aboriginal people in prison was 25.7% (95%CI: 4.1-47.3) in studies published between 1994 - 2004 and 14....
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - July 1, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

An Evaluation of the Usefulness of Extracorporeal Liver Support Techniques in Patients Hospitalized in the ICU for Severe Liver Dysfunction Secondary to Alcoholic Liver Disease
Conclusions: The application of extracorporeal liver support techniques in patients with severe liver dysfunction secondary to ALD appears justified in the subset of patients with MELD UNOS Modification scores of 18 - 30.,Objectives: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of applying extracorporeal liver support techniques to treat this group of patients.,Patients and Methods: The data from 23 hospital admissions of 21 patients with ALD who were admitted to the department of anesthesiology and intensive therapy (A&IT) at the Dr Wł. Biegański Regional Specialist Hospital in Łódź between March 201...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - July 1, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

The Role of Interferon Lambda 3 Genetic Polymorphisms in Response to Interferon Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients: An Updated Meta-Analysis
Conclusions: This study supports the idea that the IFNL3 gene is an important predictor of the response of CHB patients to IFN therapy.,Results: Nine studies of 1602 CHB patients receiving IFN treatment were included. Under the random-effects model, patients expressing the variant rs12980275 showed a significantly increased response to IFN therapy (OR = 2.85; 95% CI = 1.14 - 4.60). In the subgroup analyses by antiviral agents, the patients carrying the rs8099917T allele in the IFN-only treatment group showed a significantly increased response to IFN therapy (OR for the dominant model = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.24 - 3.31), whereas ...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 28, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Impacts of the G145R Mutation on the Structure and Immunogenic Activity of the Hepatitis B Surface Antigen: A Computational Analysis
Conclusions: These data will be beneficial for designing more advanced antibodies for the recognition of the HBsAg in diagnostics. In addition, the results of this study may assist in the design or development of a more effective hepatitis B vaccine.,Results: The G145R mutation causes a considerable reduction in the immunogenic activity of the HBsAg through a local change in the conformation of the HBsAg antigenic loops. This mutation inserts a new β-strand in the “a” determinant region of the HBsAg, leading to a reduced binding affinity to its monoclonal antibody, MAb12. The G145R mutation also increased the compactn...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 27, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Association of Adiponectin Gene Polymorphisms with the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Chinese Han Population
Conclusions: In this Northern Chinese Han population, the Adrs266729 and rs2241766 G alleles were closely associated with the occurrence of NAFLD. However, only NAFLD patients who carried the Adrs266729 G allele had an increased risk of developing CAD.,Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the association between Ad gene polymorphisms (rs266729 and rs2241766) and the risk of developing CAD in Northern Han Chinese patients with NAFLD. (Source: Hepatitis Monthly)
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 25, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Rural Residency has a Protective Effect and Marriage is a Risk Factor for NAFLD
Conclusions: While rural living has a protective effect on NAFLD, marriage may be a potential risk factor for this condition.,Results: We found that NAFLD had an inverse association with rural living in men (OR = 0.513, 0.422 - 0.622, P value < 0.001) and women (OR = 0.431, 0.345 - 0.539, P value < 0.001). Furthermore, we determined that NAFLD had a direct association with marriage status for men (OR = 2.770, 2.004 - 3.831, P value < 0.001) and women (OR = 1.241, 1.033 - 1.490, P value = 0.0209).,Objectives: We aim to evaluate whether residency and marriage status increased the risk factors for NAFLD.,Material and...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 18, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Liver Disease Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Iran and the Potential Impact of Various Treatment Strategies on the Disease Burden
Conclusions: An increasing burden of HCV-related liver disease is expected in Iran under the current diagnosis and treatment levels. Increased diagnosis and treatment uptake is required in combination with enhanced treatment efficacy to reduce the HCV burden. The relatively young age of the HCV infected population, provides an opportunity for timely interventions to avert the projected rising HCV disease burden in Iran.,Results: In 2014, an estimated 186,500 individuals are living with HCV infection in Iran (median age: 30 years). By 2030, this number will increase to 213,700, while three to four folds increase is expected...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 13, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Epidemiological Distribution and Genotype Characterization of the Hepatitis C Virus Among HIV Patients in Kashan, Iran
Conclusions: The majority of HIV-infected persons in the city of Kashan were also HCV positive. Genotype 1 was the predominant type, alongside subtype A. Considering the high prevalence of HCV among the HIV-infected persons, as well as the impact of occupation, education, illicit drug use, and imprisonment on the incidence of both infections, health policy makers must introduce health programs and plans to reduce the prevalence of these infections.,Results: The results of the analysis indicated that 54 (85%) of the 63 HIV-infected patients were males who were also HCV positive and who had less than a high school level educ...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - June 4, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Prevalence of Serologic Hepatitis B Markers in Blood Donors From Puebla, Mexico: The Association of Relatively High Levels of Anti-Core Antibodies With the Detection of Surface Antigen and Genomic DNA
Conclusions: We observed that as the anti-HBc levels increase, there is a higher prevalence of the viral protein HBsAg in blood donors. Samples testing positive for HBV-DNA were seen to exhibit a ten-fold higher presence of anti-HBc S/CO ≥ 4 than those with S/CO ≥ 1 and < 4.0, which highlights the relevance of anti-HBc determination in blood donor samples.,Results: Of the 120,552 blood donors, 1437 (1.19%, 95% CI: 1.12 - 1.26) were reactive to anti-HBc, while 82 (0.066%, 95% CI: 0.053 - 0.079) were reactive to HBsAg. Some 156 plasma samples collected in 2009 from anti-HBc-positive/HBsAg-negative blood donors were su...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - May 31, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Viral Infection Among Pregnant Women in Peshawar, Pakistan
Conclusions: The overall prevalence of HBV and HCV was 1.16% and 1.42%, respectively. The incidence of HCV infection among the pregnant women was higher than that of HBV infection. (Source: Hepatitis Monthly)
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - May 31, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Genetic Polymorphism of CYP27B1-1260 as Associated With Impaired Fasting Glucose in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Undergoing Antiviral Therapy
Conclusions: CYP27B1-1260 polymorphism is associated with abnormal glucose metabolism in HCV infected patients. HCV infected individuals with CYP27B1-1260 genotype CC appeared to have an increased risk of developing abnormal FPG levels.,Results: In HCV infected patients with abnormal FPG levels, the frequency of the genotype CC was significantly higher than that in patients with normal FPG levels (19% vs. 7%, P < 0.001). In contrast, in the control participants, the CC genotype was not significantly different between FPG groups. At baseline, the CC genotype was associate with four times more risk of IFG after adjusting ...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - May 27, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Manipulation of Regulatory Cells’ Responses to Treatments for Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Conclusions: The inhibition of Tregs is a novel therapeutic approach to cure chronically HBV infected patients. However, further studies are needed to investigate the safety and efficacy of this approach.,Objectives: In this study, we focused on treating CHB infection via the manipulation of T cells’ responses to identify possible approaches to cure CHB.,Materials and Methods: All studies relevant to the role of cellular and humoral responses in HBV infection (especially regulatory cells) were investigated via a systematic search of different databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Considering extracted ...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - May 24, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research

Hepatitis A Is a Health Hazard for Iranian Pilgrims Who Go to Holly Karbala: A Preliminary Report
Conclusions: This number of pilgrim patients with acute hepatitis A from a single province compels us to conduct more evaluations and follow up monitoring on all persons travelling to Karbala and be sensitive to early diagnoses of the pilgrims. In the future, it is important to be mindful of administering the HAV vaccine and Ig.,Results: A total number of nine patients were registered. Seven patients were male and two were female. The mean age was 30.11 ± 10.09.Two patients were from the same family. All patients had typical symptoms of acute hepatitis A. None of the patients died nor did fulminant occur in any patients. ...
Source: Hepatitis Monthly - May 24, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research