Assessment of performance and comparison of three commercial HDV RNA detection assays: implications for diagnosis and treatment monitoring.

Objectives: Precise HDV-RNA detection and quantification are pivotal for diagnosis and monitoring of response to newly approved treatment. We evaluate the performance of three HDV RNA detection and quantification assays.

Methods: Hepatitis Delta RT-PCR system kit, EurobioPlex HDV assay, and RoboGene HDV RNA Quantification kit 2.

[Antifungal susceptibility of clinical isolates of Scopulariopsis species].

Introduction: Scopulariopsis is a common soil saprophyte. In the last years the infections caused by Scopulariopsis species have increased, included superficial and invasive mycoses. This fungi has been reported resistant in vitro to some antifungal agents, although there is little information about this.

[Fungemia due to Trichosporon asahii in a patient with hematological malignancy].

Background: Trichosporonosis is an opportunistic infection caused by the genus Trichosporon. The majority of cases of invasive trichosporonosis occurs in immunocompromised individuals.

Case Report: We describe a case of disseminated infection by Trichosporon asahii in a hematology patient.

Down-regulation of HP1Hsalpha expression is associated with the metastatic phenotype in breast cancer.

We previously identified a down-regulation in heterochromatin-associated protein 1 (HP1)Hsalpha expression in MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells (highly invasive/metastatic) compared with MCF-7 cells (poorly invasive/nonmetastatic). In this study, we demonstrate that HP1Hsalpha, but not HP1Hsbeta or HP1Hsgamma, is down-regulated at the mRNA and protein levels in highly invasive/metastatic breast cancer cell lines. In agreement, little to no nuclear HP1Hsalpha staining was observed in these cell lines.