Publications by authors named "Thomas Walter Hoffmann"

Cell microencapsulation in alginate hydrogel has shown interesting applications in regenerative medicine and the biomedical field through implantation of encapsulated tissue or for bioartificial organ development. Although alginate solution is known to have low antiviral activity, the same property regarding alginate gel has not yet been studied. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential protective effect of alginate encapsulation against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection for a hepatic cell line (HuH-7) normally permissive to the virus.

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Chronic infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present, the most commonly used in vitro model of HCV infection is based on hepatoma cell lines. However, they were obtained from different patients and different cancers and/or differ in their characteristics and permissiveness to HCV.

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The most common etiologic agents causing chronic hepatitis are hepatitis C and B viruses (HCV and HBV, respectively). Chronic infection caused by HCV is considered one of the major causative agents of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. In combination with the increasing rate of new HCV infections, the lack of a current vaccine and/or an effective treatment for this virus continues to be a major public health challenge.

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