Effects of salbutamol and phlorizin on acute pulmonary inflammation and disease severity in experimental sepsis.

Respiratory infection can be exacerbated by the high glucose concentration in the airway surface liquid (ASL). We investigated the effects of salbutamol and phlorizin on the pulmonary function, oxidative stress levels and SGLT1 activity in lung, pulmonary histopathological damages and survival rates of rats with sepsis. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture surgery (CLP).

Evidence of bottleneck effect on hepatitis C virus transmission between a couple under interferon based therapy.

Issues on the correlation of viral genetic diversity and treatment response to the hepatitis C infection remain uncertain. The bottleneck effect dictates the characteristics of the viral population that will establish the infection in a new host and is related to how the immune system and treatment will be effective against the virus. Here we evaluated the phylogenetic characteristics of quasispecies population and the treatment response pattern of a HCV infected couple.

On hepatitis C virus evolution: the interaction between virus and host towards treatment outcome.

Background: Hepatitis C is a disease spread throughout the world. Hepatitis C virus (HCV), the etiological agent of this disease, is a single-stranded positive RNA virus. Its genome encodes a single precursor protein that yields ten proteins after processing.

Analysis of HCV quasispecies dynamic under selective pressure of combined therapy.

Background: The quasispecies composition of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) could have important implications with regard to viral persistence and response to interferon-based therapy. The complete NS5A was analyzed to evaluate whether the composition of NS5A quasispecies of HCV 1a/1b is related to responsiveness to combined interferon pegylated (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin therapy.

Methods: Viral RNA was isolated from serum samples collected before, during and after treatment from virological sustained responder (SVR), non-responder (NR) and the end-of-treatment responder patients (ETR).

New insights regarding HCV-NS5A structure/function and indication of genotypic differences.

Background: HCV is prevalent throughout the world. It is a major cause of chronic liver disease. There is no effective vaccine and the most common therapy, based on Peginterferon, has a success rate of ~50%.

Genetic diversity of NS5A protein from hepatitis C virus genotype 3a and its relationship to therapy response.

Background: The quasispecies nature of HCV may have important implications for viral persistence, pathogenicity and resistance to antiviral agents. The variability of one of the viral proteins, NS5A, is believed to be related to the response to IFN therapy, the standard treatment for infection. In this study we analyzed the quasispecies composition of NS5A protein in patients infected with HCV genotype 3a, before IFN therapy.

Quasispecies of hepatitis C virus genotype 1 and treatment outcome with peginterferon and ribavirin.

The majority of patients with chronic hepatitis C fail to respond to antiviral therapy. The genetic basis of this resistance is unknown. The quasispecies nature of HCV may have an important implication concerning viral persistence and response to therapy.