Hepatitis C virus infection in an endemic area of Southern Italy 14 years later: evidence for a vanishing infection.

Background: In a 1996 survey, prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV) in a southern Italian town was 12.6%.

Aims: To identify changes in the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

High sensitive troponin T in individuals with chest pain of presumed ischemic origin.

This study was aimed at assessing the bias of high sensitive cardiac troponin T vs. the standard cardiac troponin T in a selected population with chest pain of presumed cardiac origin. Serum cTnT was determined in 132 patients and in 106 apparently healthy controls by both assays.

High prevalence of polymorphism and low activity of thiopurine methyltransferase in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Gene polymorphism of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) correlates with decreased enzyme activity which determines a significant risk of adverse effect reactions (ADR) in patients treated with thiopurines. The aim of this study was to investigate TPMT genotype and phenotype status in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

Methods: Fifty-one consecutive out-patients with IBD were genotyped for the following allelic variants: rs1800462 (referred as TPMT 2 allele), rs1800460 (referred as TPMT 3B allele), and 1142345 (referred as TPMT 3C allele).