Experimental densities of subcooled deuterium oxide at pressures up to 160 MPa.

In this work, the experimental results of deuterium oxide density at high pressure and in a wide range of temperatures, by means of the pseudo-isochoric method, are presented. A specific stainless steel cell was devised to be used as a pycnometer and filled with variable mass of heavy water. The latter was measured by weighing with an analytical balance and using the substitution method.

Hepatitis delta virus and hepatocellular carcinoma: an update.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus that depends on the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for the creation of new virions and propagation of the infection to hepatocytes. Chronic infection with HDV is usually associated with a worsening of HBV infection, leading more frequently to cirrhosis, increased risk of liver decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence. In spite of a progressive declining prevalence of both acute and chronic HDV infection observed over several years, mainly due to increased global health policies and mass vaccination against HBV, several European countries have more recently observed stable HDV prevalence mainly due to migrants from non-European countries.

Determinants of esophageal varices bleeding in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

Background And Aims: Sorafenib is the standard of care for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet treatment safety may be challenged by portal hypertension. We therefore assessed the prevalence, risk factors and clinical consequences of esophageal varices (EVs) in sorafenib-treated patients with HCC.

Methods: Starting in 2008, all compensated patients with advanced or intermediate HCC not eligible for other therapies were consecutively enrolled in a prospective evaluation of sorafenib therapy, all with pretreatment by upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE).

Density measurements of subcooled water in the temperature range of (243 and 283) K and for pressures up to 400 MPa.

In this work, accurate density measurements of subcooled water (freshly double-distilled water) were performed along eight constant-mass curves in the temperature range of (243 to 283) K and in the pressure range of (140 to 400) MPa, by a pseudo-isochoric method. The experimental apparatus mainly consisted of a high pressure vessel, especially designed for this experiment, of known volume as a function of temperature and pressure, used to perform measurements in the T-p range under study. The density of subcooled water was obtained by measuring the equilibrium pressure at different temperatures, keeping the mass constant.

Hepatitis delta virus: Making the point from virus isolation up to 2014.

Chronic infection with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) has lately regained clinical importance because of the recent evidence of increasing prevalence in several European countries, due to immigration from highly endemic areas. HDV requires the mandatory presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for propagation to hepatocytes. It is transmitted by the same routes of HBV and it can be acquired either by co-infection (simultaneous transmission of the two viruses) or super-infection (acquisition of HDV by an already chronic carrier of HBV).

High serum levels of HDV RNA are predictors of cirrhosis and liver cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis delta.

Chronic infection with the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a risk factor for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but little is known whether the outcome of hepatitis is predicted by serum markers of HDV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of the study was to investigate these correlations in 193 patients with chronic HDV infection who had been followed up for a median of 9.5 years (4.

Proteoglycans act as cellular hepatitis delta virus attachment receptors.

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a small, defective RNA virus that requires the presence of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) for its life cycle. Worldwide more than 15 million people are co-infected with HBV and HDV. Although much effort has been made, the early steps of the HBV/HDV entry process, including hepatocyte attachment and receptor interaction are still not fully understood.

[Role of the hepatitis Delta virus on the pathogenesis of hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Recent advances].

Hepatitis Delta virus is a defective RNA virus that requires HBV as helper virus. The two viruses share the same route of transmission, being prevalently transmitted by contaminated blood and body fluids. HDV can infect simultaneously with HBV (coinfection) or in a patient with already established HBV infection (superinfection).

The diagnostic and economic impact of contrast imaging techniques in the diagnosis of small hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis.

Background: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CE-US), contrast CT scan and gadolinium dynamic MRI are recommended for the characterisation of liver nodules detected during surveillance of patients with cirrhosis with US.

Aim: To assess the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy and economic impact of all possible sequential combinations of contrast imaging techniques in patients with cirrhosis with 1-2 cm liver nodules undergoing US surveillance.

Patients/methods: 64 patients with 67 de novo liver nodules (55 with a size of 1-2 cm) were consecutively examined by CE-US, CT, MRI, and a fine-needle biopsy (FNB) as diagnostic standard.

A 28-year study of the course of hepatitis Delta infection: a risk factor for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Chronic infection with hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) is a risk factor for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); predictors of disease outcome are, however, poorly defined. We tracked the course of HDV infection in 299 patients over a mean period of 233 months.

Methods: We analyzed data from patients who had been HDV positive for at least 6 months (230 males; mean age, 30 years) admitted from 1978 to 2006 to Maggiore Hospital, Milan.

Endothelial protein C receptor plasma levels increase in chronic liver disease, while thrombomodulin plasma levels increase only in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction: Thrombomodulin (TM) and endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) are two transmembrane endothelial receptors involved in the protein C pathway, that regulates coagulation and inflammation processes. We postulated that soluble thrombomodulin and EPCR are plasmatic markers of progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and prognostic indicators in cirrhotic patients.

Materials And Methods: Plasma levels of TM and EPCR were measured in 104 patients affected by different stages of liver diseases (66 patients with HCC, and 38 without HCC), and in 52 healthy controls.

The natural history of compensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus: A 17-year cohort study of 214 patients.

Large databases of consecutive patients followed for sufficiently long periods are needed to establish the rates, chronology, and hierarchy of complications of cirrhosis as well as the importance of other potential causes of liver disease. In accordance with this goal, a cohort of patients with compensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) was followed for 17 years. Two hundred and fourteen HCV RNA-seropositive patients with Child-Pugh class A cirrhosis who had no previous clinical decompensation were prospectively recruited and followed up with periodic clinical and abdominal ultrasound examinations.

No hepatitis recurrence using combination prophylaxis in HBV-positive liver transplant recipients with YMDD mutants.

Recurrence of hepatitis B impairs the outcome of liver transplantation (OLT). In serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA-positive recipients, prophylaxis using lamivudine and immunoglobulins (HBIg) reduces the risk of recurrence, but it is undefined whether this regimen also protects candidates with YMDD mutants. Seventeen OLT viraemic candidates received pre-emptive lamivudine followed by post-OLT prophylaxis with lamivudine and HBIg.

Production of profibrotic cytokines by invariant NKT cells characterizes cirrhosis progression in chronic viral hepatitis.

Invariant (inv)NKT cells are a subset of autoreactive lymphocytes that recognize endogenous lipid ligands presented by CD1d, and are suspected to regulate the host response to cell stress and tissue damage via the prompt production of cytokines. We investigated invNKT cell response during the progression of chronic viral hepatitis caused by hepatitis B or C virus infection, a major human disease characterized by a diffused hepatic necroinflammation with scarring fibrotic reaction, which can progress toward cirrhosis and cancer. Ex vivo frequency and cytokine production were determined in circulating and intrahepatic invNKT cells from controls (healthy subjects or patients with nonviral benign or malignant focal liver damage and minimal inflammatory response) or chronic viral hepatitis patients without cirrhosis, with cirrhosis, or with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Increased survival of cirrhotic patients with a hepatocellular carcinoma detected during surveillance.

Background & Aims: Significant improvements in management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have occurred in the last years, but their impact on surveillance outcome is unknown. To clarify this, we compared survival of HCC patients identified along 3 consecutive quinquennia of surveillance.

Methods: A cohort of 417 HCC-free outpatients with compensated cirrhosis was prospectively followed for 148 months (range, 1-213 months) with periodic ultrasound examinations.

Long-term suppression of hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B by 24-month interferon therapy.

To assess whether extended treatment with interferon improves the outcome of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B, 101 consecutive patients were treated with 6 MU of interferon alfa 2b 3 times weekly for 24 months. During the 68-month study, 30 patients (30%) had a sustained response (i.e.

The natural history of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a multistage disease whose occurrence is linked to environmental, dietary and life-style factors. Risk factors for HCC have been grouped into two clusters, physiologic and pathologic factors. Much evidence indicates that these risk factors may interact with each other either as a group or as a single factor to modulate development of liver cancer.