DNMT1 modulation in chronic hepatitis B patients and hypothetic influence on mitochondrial DNA methylation status during long-term nucleo(t)side analogs therapy.

Inhibition of viral replication is the most important goal in patients with Hepatitis B virus chronic infection (CHB). Currently, five oral nucleo(t)side analogs (NAs), including Lamivudine, Adefovir, Telbivudine, Entecavir, and Tenofovir, have been approved for treatment. The widespread use of NAs has also been linked with a progressive growth of unlikely anomaly attributable to mitochondrial dysfunctions, not previously recognized.

Mediterranean spotted fever-like illness in Sardinia, Italy: a clinical and microbiological study.

Introduction: Rickettsioses represent a group of emerging infectious diseases in Europe. Climate changes and the anthropization of rural environment have favored vectors' biological cycle and geographic spread. In Sardinia, Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is endemic and represents an important public health problem.

Ebola virus disease: Case management in the Institute of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy.

Since the onset of the worst epidemic of Ebola virus disease in December 2013, 28,637 cases were reported as confirmed, probable, or suspected. Since the week of 3 January 2016, no more cases have been reported. The total number of deaths have amounted to 11,315 (39.

Could inducible protein-10 and heparin-binding hemagglutinin improve the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected subjects in a country with low incidence of tuberculosis?

Background: This study aimed to evaluate inducible protein-10 (IP-10) as a biomarker besides interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) to improve the identification of active tuberculosis (TB) and latent tubercular infection (LTBI) in a country with a low incidence of TB.

Methods: Whole blood from Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected subjects was stimulated with region-of-difference-1 (RD1)-specific peptides and with heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA) to determine the release of IP-10 and IFN-γ.

Results: No statistically significant difference was observed between positive rates of IP-10 and IFN-γ after RD1-specific peptide stimulation in the TB and LTBI groups; a different response was detected in QuantiFERON TB-gold test-negative (QFT-) subjects.

Hepatitis C virus RNA levels at week-2 of telaprevir/boceprevir administration are predictive of virological outcome.

Background: Triple therapy with telaprevir/boceprevir + pegylated-interferon+ribavirin can achieve excellent antiviral efficacy, but it can be burdened with resistance development at failure.

Aims: To evaluate kinetics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA decay and early resistance development, in order to promptly identify patients at highest risk of failure to first generation protease inhibitors.

Methods: HCV-RNA was prospectively quantified in 158 patients receiving pegylated-interferon+ribavirin+telaprevir (N = 114) or+boceprevir (N = 44), at early time-points and during per protocol follow-up.

Timing of antiretroviral therapy initiation after a first AIDS-defining event: temporal changes in clinical attitudes in the ICONA cohort.

Background: Time of starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) after diagnosis of specific AIDS-defining event (ADE) is a crucial aspect. Objectives of this study were to evaluate if in patients diagnosed with ADE the time to ART initiation may vary according to year of diagnosis and type of ADE.

Methods: All HIV+ persons diagnosed with an ADE over the 6 months prior to or after enrolment in the Icona Foundation study cohort and while ART-naive were grouped according to type of diagnosis: Those with ADE requiring medications interacting with ART [group A], those with ADE treatable only with ART [B] and other ADE [C].

Activation of MSRV-type endogenous retroviruses during infectious mononucleosis and Epstein-Barr virus latency: the missing link with multiple sclerosis?

The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still unclear. The immuno-pathogenic phenomena leading to neurodegeneration are thought to be triggered by environmental (viral?) factors operating on predisposing genetic backgrounds. Among the proposed co-factors are the Epstein Barr virus (EBV), and the potentially neuropathogenic HERV-W/MSRV/Syncytin-1 endogenous retroviruses.

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis as presentation of HIV infection in Sardinia, insular Italy.

Leishmaniasis is endemic in Sardinia but only cutaneous and visceral cases have been reported to date. We report a case of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis as presentation of HIV infection in a Sardinian patient who had never visited endemic areas. Serological and clinical diagnosis was cytologically and histopathologically confirmed.

Raltegravir central nervous system tolerability in clinical practice: results from a multicenter observational study.

Central nervous system (CNS) symptoms have been reported in clinical trials and case reports in patients receiving raltegravir. We investigated CNS symptoms in 453 HIV-infected patients. Of these 47 (10.

HIV type 1 origin and transmission dynamics among different risk groups in sardinia: molecular epidemiology within the close boundaries of an Italian island.

In Italy, the HIV-1 epidemic is still mainly sustained by the subtype B genetic form, although other and novel subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) have been reported. A total of 215 HIV-1 pol gene sequences were collected between 1992 and 2010. Multiple alignments spanning subtype-specific HIV-1 B pol sequences were analyzed by Bayesian phylogenetic methods.

Response to raltegravir-based salvage therapy in HIV-infected patients with hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus coinfection.

Objectives: To define the impact of coinfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) on viroimmunological response to raltegravir-based salvage regimens that also include new HIV inhibitors such as maraviroc, darunavir and etravirine.

Methods: We used data from a national observational study of patients starting raltegravir-based regimens to compare virological suppression and CD4 cell change from baseline in patients with and without concomitant HBV or HCV infection.

Results: Overall, 275 patients (107 coinfected and 168 non-coinfected) were evaluated.

Novel sensitive, specific and rapid pharmacogenomic test for the prediction of abacavir hypersensitivity reaction: HLA-B*57:01 detection by real-time PCR.

Aim: International HIV treatment guidelines recommend HLA-B*57:01 typing before abacavir administration, in order to reduce the incidence of abacavir hypersensitivity reactions, the major cause of early therapy discontinuation. A fast, sensitive and specific test for HLA-B*57:01 detection has been developed in the present study.

Materials & Methods: Two sets of sequence-specific primers were designed, and amplification rapidly detected by real-time PCR.

First HAART in HIV-infected patients with high viral load: value of HIV RNA levels at 12 weeks to predict virologic outcome.

The aim of this study is to identify the role of incomplete suppression during the first months of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) to predict virologic failure in patients with high levels of HIV replication. In a retrospective, longitudinal, and multicenter study, response to HAART was assessed in treatment-naive adults with HIV RNA >100 000 copies/mL, and factors predicting failure were analyzed through regression analyses. A total of 118 patients were included.

Trends in the European HIV/AIDS epidemic: a perspective from Italy.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic represents one of the major public-health challenges in present days. Despite the relevant improvement in the prognosis of HIV disease following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), numerous new challenges are progressively emerging as patient characteristics evolve. In this article, we give an insight into more actual topics in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Italy and Europe, including recent epidemiological trends, emerging drug resistance and non-B-subtype circulation, the lights and shadows of HAART and the potential of HARRT to reduce sexual transmission of HIV.

Pneumococcal pneumonia: clinical features, diagnosis and management in HIV-infected and HIV noninfected patients.

Purpose Of Review: In this review, we focus on the clinical features, diagnosis and management of pneumococcal pneumonia in HIV-infected and noninfected patients, with particular attention to the most recent advances in this area.

Recent Findings: Classical clinical features are found in young adults, whereas atypical forms occur in immunocompromised patients including HIV-infected individuals. Bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia is more frequently observed in HIV-infected and also in low-risk patients, according to the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI).

Successful prevention of multidrug resistant HIV mother-to-child transmission with enfuvirtide use in late pregnancy.

The availability of antiretroviral therapy has dramatically reduced the risk of HIV mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). However, mothers infected with multidrug resistant HIV (MDR-HIV) are at increased risk of MTCT. We report the case of a pregnant patient infected with MDR-HIV in whom MTCT was avoided with enfuvirtide use in late pregnancy and elective caesarean section.

Antiretroviral-associated portal hypertension: a new clinical condition? Prevalence, predictors and outcome.

Background: Cases of severe unexplained liver disease in HIV-infected individuals have recently been reported and are often associated with exposure to didanosine (ddl) and nodular regenerative hyperplasia. Herein, we examine the clinical outcome following ddl removal.

Methods: From 3,300 HIV-infected patients attending three clinics since 2004, all who exhibited persistently elevated aminotransferases and/or significant liver fibrosis in the absence of any known cause of liver damage were identified.

Socio-demographic and climatic factors as correlates of Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in northern Sardinia.

Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is endemic in the Mediterranean area. We carried out a retrospective study to investigate the association between socio-demographic and climatic factors and MSF incidence in northern Sardinia. We found that maximum temperature levels during the previous summer were associated with increases in MSF incidence.

QuantiFERON TB Gold: a new method for latent tuberculosis infection.

QuantiFERON-TB Gold obtained approval in 2003 by the Food and Drug Administration as a valid tool for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis. In this report, we evaluated its potential use in the immunological diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections in different groups of subjects. Our data indicate that QuantiFERON-TB Gold is specific for identifying subjects who have come into contact with M.