Skin Adverse Events During Dual and Triple Therapy for HCV-Related Cirrhosis.

Introduction: Dermatological adverse events are an existing concern during treatment of hepatitis C virus infection. Peginterferon/ribavirin treatment is associated with well-characterized dermatological lesions tending towards a uniform entity of dermatitis. New telaprevir- or boceprevir-based triple-therapy has led to significant improvements in sustained virological response rates, although associated with an increase in cutaneous adverse events compared peginterferon/ribavirin alone.

Effects of a Mediterranean-style diet on the need for antihyperglycemic drug therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a randomized trial.

Background: Low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie-restricted diets are recommended for weight loss in overweight and obese people with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To compare the effects of a low-carbohydrate Mediterranean-style or a low-fat diet on the need for antihyperglycemic drug therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Design: Single-center, randomized trial.

Addition of neutral protamine lispro insulin or insulin glargine to oral type 2 diabetes regimens for patients with suboptimal glycemic control: a randomized trial.

Background: Injection of long-acting insulin at bedtime is a common therapeutic approach for patients with type 2 diabetes that is poorly controlled with oral regimens. Neutral protamine lispro (NPL) insulin has demonstrated better glycemic control and similar incidence of hypoglycemic events than that of neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of bedtime NPL insulin or insulin glargine in patients with type 2 diabetes who had suboptimal glycemic control while receiving stable doses of metformin and sulfonylurea.

The unique role of domain 2A of the hepatitis A virus precursor polypeptide P1-2A in viral morphogenesis.

The initial step during assembly of the hepatitis A virus particle is driven by domain 2A of P1-2A, which is the precursor of the structural proteins. The proteolytic removal of 2A from particulate VP1-2A by an as yet unknown host enzyme presumably terminates viral morphogenesis. Using a genetic approach, we show that a basic amino acid residue at the C-terminus of VP1 is required for efficient particle assembly and that host proteases trypsin and cathepsin L remove 2A from hepatitis A virus particles in vitro.

Phenotypic assessment of endothelial microparticles in diabetic and nondiabetic men with erectile dysfunction.

Introduction: Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) may play a role as biomarkers of vascular injury. EMPs are higher in men with diabetes diabetic men with erectile dysfunction (ED) than in nondiabetic potent men.

Aim: The aim of this study was to quantize different phenotypic circulating EMP levels among diabetic and nondiabetic patients with ED, and to determine whether EMPs are released as a result of activation or apoptosis.

Endothelial microparticles correlate with erectile dysfunction in diabetic men.

Cell-derived microparticles are supposed to be involved in endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate circulating microparticles in diabetic subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED) and their relation with endothelial dysfunction. Thirty diabetic men with ED and 20 age-matched control subjects without ED were assessed for circulating microparticles and endothelial dysfunction.

[Epidemiology and risk factors for heart failure in the elderly].

Heart failure achieves particular relevance and different characteristics in the elderly population, especially for the clinical complexity related to the presence of comorbidity and chronicity, which are common conditions in these patients. Despite recent advances in clinical approach, diagnosis and therapeutic management of heart failure, the incidence and prevalence of this syndrome are still increasing, owing to the better control of the disease, and, largely, to the aging of the population. Epidemiologic data indicate that heart failure represents a crucial problem in the elderly population in terms of social, economic, and health burden.

Neurotoxicity induced by Cefepime in a very old hemodialysis patient.

Neurotoxicity is an unusual complication of cephalosporin therapy. Only few cases of neurotoxicity induced by Cefepime have been described and probably the frequency of Cefepime-induced status epilepticus is underestimated. We report a case of an 82 year-old male, ESRD patient on chronic hemodialysis program affected by pneumonia, who received a treatment with intravenous Cefepime (1 g/day) and developed a seizure 4 days after the starting antibiotic therapy.

Autonomic dysfunction associates with prolongation of QT intervals and blunted night BP in obese women with visceral obesity.

Prolonged QT intervals and a reduced fall of nocturnal blood pressure (BP) both predict an increased risk of cardiovascular events in obese subjects. We evaluated circadian BP variations (24-h ambulatory BP monitoring), autonomic function (power spectral analysis of RR interval oscillations) and cardiac repolarization times (QTc-dispersion and QTc interval) in 70 obese women, aged 25-44 yr, grouped by WHR into group A (WHR > 0.85, no.

Chimeric hepatitis A virus particles presenting a foreign epitope (HIV gp41) at their surface.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) protein 2A has been demonstrated to be involved in virus morphogenesis and suggested to be located on the surface of the particle. To determine whether this protein can function as a target structure to harbor and expose foreign epitopes on HAV particles, a full-length HAV cDNA, containing a seven amino acid stretch of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope protein gp41, was constructed. Following vaccinia virus MVA-T7-mediated expression of the cDNA in COS7 and Huh-T7 cells, chimeric HAV particles, exposing the foreign epitope gp41 on their surface, were produced.

Prevalence of TT virus in healthy children and thalassemic pediatric and young adult patients.

Background: The recently discovered TT virus (TTV) has been shown to be highly prevalent in patients with cryptogenetic chronic liver disease and fulminant hepatitis. To study the frequency of TTV and to evaluate the possible association with liver disease, 37 pediatric and young adult patients with thalassemia, and 36 healthy children were included in the study. The sera of 100 blood donors selected randomly in the same period were also tested for TTV DNA.

Mapping of protein domains of hepatitis A virus 3AB essential for interaction with 3CD and viral RNA.

The small hydrophobic protein 3AB of the picornaviruses, encompassing the replication primer 3B, has been suggested to anchor the viral replication complex to membranes. For hepatitis A virus (HAV) 3AB, we have previously demonstrated its ability to form stable homodimers, to bind to membranes, and to interact specifically with RNA, implicating its multiple involvement in viral replication. In the present report, we show that HAV 3AB additionally interacts with HAV protein 3CD, a feature also described for the corresponding polypeptide of poliovirus.

Prevalence of TT virus in plasma pools and blood products.

A high prevalence of TT virus (TTV), a novel virus recently identified in the serum of a patient with post-transfusion hepatitis of unknown aetiology, has been reported in blood donors worldwide. We investigated the presence of TTV DNA in several lots of blood products and in the corresponding plasma pools. In the process, we determined, from three sets of primers, the one which was most efficient in detecting the viral nucleic acid.

Detection of hepatitis A virus in shellfish by nested reverse transcription-PCR.

A method for the detection of HAV in shellfish, based on the use of guanidinium isothiocyanate-containing solution for RNA extraction and purification steps, followed by nested PCR, is hereby proposed. Tests were carried out on mollusc samples spiked with HAV strain FG. Results showed that in samples subjected only to one round of PCR it was possible to detect HAV at concentrations of 10(3)-10(4) TCID50/10 g of mollusc.

Polypeptide 3AB of hepatitis A virus is a transmembrane protein.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) protein 3AB is a membrane-interacting protein containing a stretch of 21 hydrophobic amino acid residues. The nature of its membrane association was studied in detail by analysing various deletion mutants. In vivo and in vitro expression of the wild-type protein and its mutants allowed to demonstrate that the hydrophobic domain interacts with membranes and to define the portions essential for this feature.

Application of reverse transcriptase-nested-PCR for detection of poliovirus in mussels.

In order to identify polioviruses in molluscs, we hereby propose a method based on precipitation with PEG 6000 followed by the use of a commercial kit (RNAfast II-Molecular System-San Diego) for the extraction and purification of viral RNA. The RT-PCR phase is followed by a second amplification using nested primers to increase the sensitivity and specificity of the method. Tests were carried out on mollusc samples spiked with Poliovirus 1.

Site-directed mutagenesis of hepatitis A virus protein 3A: effects on membrane interaction.

Due to a stretch of hydrophobic amino acids, protein 3A of hepatitis A virus (HAV) has been suggested to act as a membrane anchor or a carrier of the genome-linked protein 3B (VPg) during viral RNA synthesis. Mutagenesis analysis was performed in order to elucidate the role of the N- and C-terminal tracts of protein 3A in cell membrane interaction. Expression of the mutated proteins in E.

Focal gastric blood perfusion in relation with the endoscopic signs and liver function in cirrhotic patients.

Focal blood perfusion was measured, by means of a laser-Doppler technique, in the gastric upper body of 70 patients with liver cirrhosis and of 33 noncirrhotic controls. Perfusion was found to be lower in patients with pink mosaic-like pattern as compared to controls (p < 0.001).

Age affects glutathione content and glutathione-transferase activity in human gastric mucosa.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of age on the content of glutathione, and its amino-acid precursor cysteine and on the activity of glutathione-S-transferase of gastric mucosa in man. We examined 44 gastric mucosal samples taken from the body and the antrum of the stomach of 22 healthy subjects, aged between 19 and 65 years. The results were examined in relationship to their distribution in the stomach, to the sex and to the age of the subjects.

Effect of liver cirrhosis and age on the glutathione concentration in the plasma, erythrocytes, and gastric mucosa of man.

GSH and its related enzymes are one of the protective mechanisms vs. the oxidative damage, both in the circulation and in various tissues, including gastric mucosa. Patients with liver cirrhosis frequently suffer from a gastropathy caused by portal hypertension and they present low circulating levels of GSH.

Recombinant expression of hepatitis A virus protein 3A: interaction with membranes.

The function of hepatitis A virus (HAV) protein 3A and its structural requirements were studied in vitro and in a bacterial expression system by comparing the polypeptide precursor 3AB derived from a cytopathogenic strain with that of an attenuated strain. Although the precursor polypeptides 3AB of both HAV strains bind to microsomal membranes after translation in vitro they differ in inducing membrane permeability when expression is induced in bacteria. Intake and release of macromolecules was dramatically increased when 3AB of the cytopathogenic strain was expressed.

Complete nucleotide sequence of a cytopathic hepatitis A virus strain isolated in Italy.

The molecular basis of the cytopathic effect induced in cell culture by some hepatitis A virus (HAV) strains and variants has not been determined. In order to assess the molecular mechanism(s) underlying this particular phenotype the genome of an Italian cytopathic isolate (strain FG) was sequenced from cDNAs obtained by RT-PCR. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of mutations common to either adapted or cytopathic variants of HAV.

Chemical sclerosing cholangitis after injection of scolicidal solution.

Sclerosing cholangitis may be due to developmental immunological, infective, vascular or chemical factors (1). Hydatid cysts of the liver may communicate with the biliary tree. This is the reason why intracystic injection of scolicidal solution before surgery may cause spreading of the solution into the bile ducts.