Concurrent HBsAg and anti-HBs induced by a preS deletion mutant in a chronic hepatitis B patient.

This study analyzed the origins of concurrent hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBsAg antibodies (anti-HBs) in a patient with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The levels of serological markers of HBV infection were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The preS/S gene was analyzed by gene amplification and sequencing.

Delays in Hepatitis A vaccination in people with HIV in Houston, Texas between 2010 and 2018.

Background: Studies have demonstrated low hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination rates among persons with HIV (PWH).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of persons entering HIV care at two clinics in Houston, Texas between 2010 and 2018. We defined those eligible for HAV vaccination as those who had no history of HAV vaccination and had a negative anti-HAV IgG at entry to care.

GSK-3β as a Potential Coordinator of Anabolic and Catabolic Pathways in Hepatitis C Virus Insulin Resistance.

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis C infection can result in insulin resistance (IR). We have previously shown that it occurs through the interaction of pathways for glucose homeostasis, insulin signaling, and autophagy. But it is not known how soon the pathways are activated and how IR is related to the signals generated by catabolic and anabolic conditions occurring in infected cells.

[Pandemic and value change?].

Recent sociological diagnoses suggest that profound social crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic challenge our value orientations and could change them even in the relatively short term. Based on this observation, we investigate whether significant shifts in value priorities according to the Shalom Schwartz scale took place in Austria in the period May 2020 to March/April 2021. The first two waves of the Values in Crisis panel study serve as data material.

Use of human tissue stem cell-derived organoid cultures to model enterohepatic circulation.

The use of human tissue stem cell-derived organoids has advanced our knowledge of human physiological and pathophysiological processes that are unable to be studied using other model systems. Increased understanding of human epithelial tissues including intestine, stomach, liver, pancreas, lung, and brain have been achieved using organoids. However, it is not yet clear whether these cultures recapitulate in vivo organ-to-organ signaling or communication.

Occult hepatitis B infection and hepatocellular carcinoma: Epidemiology, virology, hepatocarcinogenesis and clinical significance.

Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) refers to a condition where replication-competent HBV DNA is present in the liver, with or without HBV DNA in the blood, in individuals with serum HBsAg negativity assessed by currently available assays. The episomal covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in OBI is in a low replicative state. Viral gene expression is mediated by epigenetic control of HBV transcription, including the HBV CpG island methylation pathway and post-translational modification of cccDNA-bound histone, with a different pattern from patients with chronic HBV infection.

Hepatitis B Virus HBx Protein Mediates the Degradation of Host Restriction Factors through the Cullin 4 DDB1 E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Complex.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) regulatory HBx protein is required for infection, and its binding to cellular damaged DNA binding protein 1 (DDB1) is critical for this function. DDB1 is an adaptor protein for the cullin 4A Really Interesting New Gene (RING) E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL4) complex and functions by binding cellular DDB1 cullin associated factor (DCAF) receptor proteins that recruit substrates for ubiquitination and degradation. We compared the proteins found in the CRL4 complex immunoprecipitated from uninfected versus HBV-infected hepatocytes from human liver chimeric mice for insight into mechanisms by which HBV and the cell interact within the CRL4 complex.

11-β-hydroxysterols as possible endogenous stimulators of mitochondrial biogenesis as inferred from epicatechin molecular mimicry.

Currently, there is great interest in identifying endogenous (i.e. physiological) stimulators of mitochondrial biogenesis (MB), in particular, those that may mediate the effects of exercise.

Impact of "a" determinant mutations on detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in HBV strains from Chinese patients with occult hepatitis B.

This study was designed to detect mutations that occur within the "a" determinant in the S gene of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in patients with occult hepatitis B (OHB), and to analyze the influence of these mutations on expression and reactivity of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Twenty-three certified OHB samples were compared to 32 HBsAg positive samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B. The median HBV DNA levels in the OHB group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.

Value orientations and social attitudes in the holistic milieu.

Based on a representative population survey for Germany this article investigates whether engagement in holistic activities is associated with privatized lifestyles and lack of social responsibility or with countercultural orientations and base-democratic political commitment. To analyse this question, respondents who are engaged in holistic activities are divided into three groups that are compared with each other as well as with Christians and non-religious people. The findings show that the three holistic groups are characterized by clearly different attitudinal patterns: Respondents engaged in body-mind-spirit activities have an affinity to self-directed ways of life, post-materialism and environmentalism.

Phase 1 study of sirolimus in combination with oral cyclophosphamide and topotecan in children and young adults with relapsed and refractory solid tumors.

Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), toxicities, and pharmacodynamics effects of sirolimus combined with oral metronomic topotecan and cyclophosphamide in a pediatric population.

Materials And Methods: Patients who were 1 to 30 years of age with relapsed/refractory solid tumors (including CNS) were eligible. Patients received daily oral sirolimus and cyclophosphamide (25-50 mg/m2/dose) on days 1-21 and oral topotecan (0.

Inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylases by soraphen A prevents lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylases (ACC) 1 and 2 catalyze the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA and depend on biotin as a coenzyme. ACC1 localizes in the cytoplasm and produces malonyl-CoA for fatty acid (FA) synthesis. ACC2 localizes in the outer mitochondrial membrane and produces malonyl-CoA that inhibits FA import into mitochondria for subsequent oxidation.

Discovery of Novel and Orally Bioavailable Inhibitors of PI3 Kinase Based on Indazole Substituted Morpholino-Triazines.

A new class of potent PI3Kα inhibitors is identified based on aryl substituted morpholino-triazine scaffold. The identified compounds showed not only a high level of enzymatic and cellular potency in nanomolar range but also high oral bioavailability. The three lead molecules (based on their in vitro potency) when evaluated further for in vitro metabolic stability as well as pharmacokinetic profile led to the identification of 26, as a candidate for further development.

Synthesis and evaluation of pyrrolotriazine based molecules as PI3 kinase inhibitors.

Over activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is found in most cancer tumor types. Controlled regulation of this pathway using PI3K inhibitors can provide therapeutic significance in cancer treatment. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of pyrrolotriazine based novel small molecules as pan-PI3K inhibitors.

Phase I/II study of (131)I-MIBG with vincristine and 5 days of irinotecan for advanced neuroblastoma.

Background: (131)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is an active radiopharmaceutical in neuroblastoma. A previous study demonstrated that MIBG could be combined with vincristine and prolonged irinotecan, although 25% of first courses had grade 3 diarrhoea. The current phase I/II study evaluated MIBG with vincristine and 5 days of higher-dose irinotecan.

Occult hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review.

Occult hepatitis B (OHB) infection has been reported to play an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this systematic review, a significantly higher prevalence of OHB was observed in patients with HCC in the presence or absence of HCV infection when compared with control populations without HCC. Correspondingly, among adequately designed prospective studies, the cumulative probability of developing HCC was significantly greater among patients with OHB than among HBV DNA-negative patients in the presence or absence of HCV infection.

Molecular analysis of the hepatitis B virus presurface and surface gene in patients from eastern China with occult hepatitis B.

This study was designed to detect and analyze mutations that occur within the presurface and surface (pre-S/S) gene of HBV in patients with occult hepatitis B, and determine their relationship to that disorder. Among 254 HBsAg negative samples of blood collected in eastern China, 183 were positive for anti-HBc alone, 61 were positive for anti-HBe alone, and 10 samples were positive for HBeAg. Within this group, 15 samples were found to be HBV DNA positive by real-time PCR and were designated Group I.

Occult Hepatitis B (OBH) in Clinical Settings.

Context: Occult hepatitis B (OHB), or persistent HBV DNA in patients who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative, is a recently recognized entity. In an attempt to summarize the issues, this review presents an overview of the current proposed hypothesis on the clinical relevance and also updates the knowledge on the classification of OHB in different clinical settings.

Evidence Acquisition: OHB COULD BE FOUND IN DIFFERENT POPULATION AND CLINICAL BACKGROUNDS INCLUDING: viral co-infections (with either human immunodeficiency or hepatitis C viruses), HBV chronic carriers, dialysis patients, transplantation settings and certain clinical situations (named in here: special clinical settings) with no apparent distinguishable clinical parameters.

Molecular pathways for glucose homeostasis, insulin signaling and autophagy in hepatitis C virus induced insulin resistance in a cellular model.

Chronic HCV infection induces insulin resistance (IR). We studied this in a persistently infected cell line with defects in glucose homeostasis resulting from the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase (GS Ser641) and GS kinase isoform 3β (GSK 3βSer9). Reversal of these effects in cells cured of HCV with interferon supports viral specificity.