The prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Aim: The prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is relatively frequent among patients with immune suppression. The impairment of the immune system is well demonstrated in diabetics. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV infection among hepatitis B core antibody (HbcAb)+/- hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) positive type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

The effect of apoptotic activity, survivin, Ki-67, and P-glycoprotein expression on prognosis in pancreatic carcinoma.

Objectives: The pathogenetic mechanisms that regulate the aggressive behavior of pancreatic cancer still remain to be clarified. Alterations in the apoptotic pathway and proliferative activity of tumor cells as well as mechanisms contributing to the intrinsic drug resistance of pancreatic tumors have been investigated. Survivin is a recently described antiapoptotic protein, which, when overexpressed, is associated with worse prognosis in a majority of tumors.