Hepatitis Monthly

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

CONTEXT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is characterized by a high degree of genetic heterogeneity and classified into 7 genotypes and different subtypes. It heterogeneously distributed through various risk groups and geographical regions. A well-established phylogenetic relationship can simplify the tracing of HCV hierarchical strata into geographical regions. The current study aimed to find genetic phylogeny of subtypes 1a and 1b of HCV isolates based on NS5B nucleotide sequences in Iran and other members of Eastern Mediterranean regional office of world health organization, as well as other Middle Eastern countries, with a systematic review of available published and unpublished studies...

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with extra hepatic autoimmune disorders, while peg-IFNa-2a/RBV combination therapy may exacerbate these conditions. Autoantibodies to cytoplasmic structures, called rod and ring particles (RR), have strong associations with these patients and are identified by HEp-2 cells. OBJECTIVES: Our purpose was to study the correlation of autoantibodies to cytoplasmic rod and ring particles in the serum of patients with chronic HCV infection with their response to standard therapy...

Patients with psychiatric disorders are usually more exposed to multiple somatic illnesses, including liver diseases. Specific links are established between psychiatric disorders and alcohol hepatitis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C in the population as a whole, and specifically in drug abusers. Metabolic syndrome criteria, and associated steatosis or non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) are frequent in patients with chronic psychiatric disorders under psychotropic drugs, and should be screened. Some psychiatric medications, such as neuroleptics, mood stabilizers, and a few antidepressants, are often associated with drug-induced liver injury (DILI)...

BACKGROUND: Liver transplanted patients need close surveillance for early signs of graft disease. OBJECTIVES: Transient elastography can safely be repeated over time, offering serial liver stiffness measurement values. Serial stiffness measurements were compared to single baseline stiffness measurements in predicting the appearance of liver-related clinical events and guiding subsequent clinical decisions. METHODS: One hundred and sixty liver transplanted patients were observed for three years in our real-life practice...

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that deficiencies observed in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) functions could play an important role in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We hypothesized that genetic variations in mtDNA could affect the mitochondrial function and contribute to the NAFLD susceptibility. OBJECTIVES: In this study, the possible association of the mtDNA copy number and 4,977-bp deletion levels with NAFLD susceptibility in a sample of Iranian population was evaluated...

BACKGROUND: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) as one of the most common chronic cholestatic liver diseases is a main predisposing factor for the development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Biliary intraepithelial neoplasia (BilIN) is defined as precancerous bile duct epithelial changes, which can be eventually led to cholangiocarcinoma. There are very few studies about the frequency of BilIN in the patients with PSC and its correlation with paraclinical findings. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we tried to find the frequency of BilIN in the patients with PSC and correlate its presence with clinicopathologic factors...

BACKGROUND: Prisoners are at high risk of blood borne and sexually transmitted infections due to their high involvement in risky behaviors. In this descriptive/cross-sectional study, the prevalence, sero-prevalence, and risk factors for bloodborne tumor viruses including HTLV-I, HBV, HCV, and KSHV were evaluated among inmates of two central prisons in the northeast of Iran. METHODS: Blood samples of 1114 inmates were analyzed for the presence of anti HTLV-I, KSHV, and HCV antibodies and HBsAg by ELISA...

BACKGROUND: The host genetic background regulates the natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between TNF-α gene polymorphism in the promoter region and susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B virus infection. METHODS: Four polymorphisms of TNF-α gene including -238 A/G, -308 A/G, -857 C/T, and -863 A/C were analyzed by PCR-RFLP in 100 chronic HBV infected patients (HBV group), 40 spontaneously recovered HBV subjects (SR group), and 100 healthy controls (C group)...

INTRODUCTION: Since directly acting antivirals (DAAs) for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) were introduced, conflicting data emerged about the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after interferon (IFN)-free treatments. We present a case of recurrent, extra-hepatic HCC in a liver-transplanted patient soon after successful treatment with DAAs, along with a short review of literature. CASE PRESENTATION: In 2010, a 53-year old man, affected by chronic HCV (genotype 1) infection and decompensated cirrhosis, underwent liver resection for HCC and subsequently received orthotopic liver transplantation...

OBJECTIVES: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a relatively rare cause of hepatic dysfunction, which can lead to acute liver failure (ALV) and cirrhosis if not treated. The performance of transient elastography (TE) compared to liver biopsy has been evaluated in many liver diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of TE and other non-invasive markers for liver fiibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven AIH. METHODS: Fifty-three patients who were treated at the department of gastroenterology and hepatology of the University Clinic Essen from 2008 to 2013 included in this retrospective study...

BACKGROUND: Natural history of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is partially characterized in patients from the Mediterranean area whose genetic background differs from that of Northern Europeans. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe genetic susceptibility and clinical course of PBC in patients from Southern Italy. METHODS: Socio-demographic, clinical, biochemical and histological data at diagnosis as well as disease progression of 81 PBC consecutive patients were collected...

BACKGROUND: Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder associated with hepatitis C. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to survey the prevalence rate of depression in patients with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) before they were aware of their HCV test result. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all blood donors with confirmed positive HCV test results who donated blood between March 21, 2012 to March 21, 2013 at Fars blood transfusion center in Iran as case group and age- and sex-matched blood donors with negative screening test results as control group...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B infections, characterized by the presence of a viral genome without detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg; Occult hepatitis B infection [OBI]), have been reported recently. OBJECTIVES: We performed serological and molecular characterization of OBI among blood donors at Jiangsu province blood center during years 2013 and 2014. METHODS: All donor samples were routinely screened by double enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Treponema pallidum (TP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)...

BACKGROUND: Infection with blood-borne viruses including hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis G (HGV) viruses is a substantial health problem. Varying prevalences of these infections in different studies reflect the role of predisposing risk factors in different countries or even different regions of a country. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present survey was to assess the prevalences of HCV and HGV virus infections among hemodialysis (HD) patients in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, Iran, 2015...

BACKGROUND: The current organ shortage has prompted the use of marginal organs. We conducted this retrospective study to present our experience with transplanting deceased donor livers with elevated levels of serum transaminases and to explain whether elevated levels of serum transaminases in donors affect allograft function and survival of the recipients. METHODS: Data of deceased donor livers and patients, who underwent liver transplantation from March 2013 to March 2015 at Shiraz center for organ transplantation, was reviewed...

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) as an infectious disease that has nine genotypes (A - I) and a 'putative' genotype J. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the rare codon clusters (RCC) in the HBV genome and to evaluate these RCCs in the HBV proteins structure. METHODS: For detection of protein family accession numbers (Pfam) in HBV proteins, the UniProt database and Pfam search tool were used. Protein family accession numbers is a comprehensive and accurate collection of protein domains and families...

BACKGROUND: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) has six major genotypes. The purpose of this study was to phylogenetically investigate the differences between the genotypes of HCV, and to determine the types of amino acid codon usage in the structure of the virus in order to discover new methods for treatment regimes. METHODS: The codon usage of the six genotypes of the HCV nucleotide sequence was investigated through the online application available on the website Gene Infinity ...

CONTEXT: Echinococcus multilocularis is the cause of alveolar hydatid disease, which most commonly involves the liver in more than 90% of cases. This disease is endemic in northern Iran. However, there are very few published cases from Iran. In this article, we will review all of the published cases of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis from Iran regarding all aspects, including clinical, paraclinical, and treatment protocols. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: In this brief review, the published cases of hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE) from Iran were retrieved for review via a search in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, IranMedex, scientific information database (SID), Magiran, and Irandoc (1995 - 2015) using the keywords Echinococcus multilocularis and Iran, Alveolar hydatid cyst and Iran, liver and Alveolar hydatid cyst and Iran, and Hepatic alveolar hydatid cyst and Iran...