Quality of life, depression, and cytokine patterns in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with antiviral therapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of chronic hepatitis C and antiviral therapy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression symptoms and cytokine patterns.

Methods: Twenty HCV+ patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin were enrolled in this cohort study and invited to complete SF-12 and BDI questionnaires prior to (T0) and at the end of the treatment (T1). HCV-RNA, serum levels of ALT, AST, haemoglobin, ferritin and IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 were evaluated at T0 and T1.

Associations between hypertriglyceridemia and serum ghrelin, adiponectin, and IL-18 levels in HIV-infected patients.

HIV-related metabolic abnormalities include hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes mellitus. Recent studies suggest a role of ghrelin in promoting the deposition of triglycerides (TG) in the liver and regulating the metabolic action of adiponectin. Visceral fat is a key regulator of inflammation and it secretes proinflammatory cytokines (eg, interleukin-18, IL-18), with potential atherogenic activity.

Increased circulating nitric oxide in young patients with type 1 diabetes and persistent microalbuminuria: relation to glomerular hyperfiltration.

Hyperglycemia has been causally linked to vascular and glomerular dysfunction by a variety of biochemical mechanisms, including a glucose-dependent abnormality in nitric oxide (NO) production and action. NO is a candidate for mediating hyperfiltration and the increased vascular permeability induced by diabetes. Serum nitrite and nitrate (NO2-+ NO3-) concentrations were assessed as an index of NO production in 30 adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes, 15 with and 15 without microalbuminuria (albumin excretion rate [AER] between 20 and 200 microg/min), compared with a well-balanced group of healthy control subjects.