Reduced Intra- and Extracellular Circulating Postprandial Lysosomal Acid Lipase Activity in Patients with MASLD.

Background/objectives: Low fasting blood lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) activity is associated with the pathogenesis of metabolic hepatic steatosis. We measured LAL activity in blood and plasma before and after an oral fat tolerance test (OFTT) in patients with metabolic-dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Methods: Twenty-six controls and seventeen patients with MASLD but without diabetes were genotyped for the patatin-like phospholipase 3 (PNPLA3) rs738409 variant by RT-PCR and subjected to an OFTT, measuring LAL activity in blood and plasma with a fluorimetric method.

Surface antigen serocleared hepatitis B virus infection increases the risk of mixed cryoglobulinemia vasculitis in male patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Mixed cryoglobulinemia vasculitis (MCV) is caused in ~90% of cases by chronic hepatitis C virus (HCVMCV) and more rarely by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, or apparently noninfectious. HCVMCV develops in only ~5% of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), but risk factors other than female gender have not been identified so far. We conducted a retrospective case control study investigating whether past active HBV infection, defined by hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance and anti-core antibody (HBcAb) positivity, could be a risk factor for developing HCVMCV.

Analysis of viral nucleic acids in duodenal biopsies from adult patients with celiac disease.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of Adenovirus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), HHV-6 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) nucleic acids in the gastrointestinal biopsies from active CD patients.

Methods: Gastrointestinal biopsies of 40 active CD patients and 40 non-CD patients were collected during the endoscopic investigation of gastrointestinal symptoms.

Results: HHV-6B was found in 62.