Mannose-binding lectin MBL2 gene polymorphisms and outcome of hepatitis C virus-infected patients.

Introduction: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is involved in host's response to several infections including hepatitis B but little is known about MBL and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The present study attempts to investigate whether MBL2 genotype and serum MBL levels affect the course of HCV infection.

Results And Discussions: We investigated the variant alleles in MBL2 gene promoter and exon-1 regions in 80 Caucasian HCV-infected patients.

Primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune cholangitis are not associated with coeliac disease in Crete.

Background: An increased prevalence of coeliac disease in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis has been recently reported. However, in other studies the association has not been confirmed. There have been no formal attempts to systematically evaluate patients with autoimmune cholangitis for coeliac disease.