18 research outputs found
Reactivation of hepatitis D virus after chemotherapy for diffuse large B cell lymphoma despite lamivudine prophylaxis
No full textWe describe a case of reactivation of hepatitis D virus (HDV) in a patient treated with chemotherapy for a diffuse large B cell lymphoma despite lamivudine prophylaxis. This case suggests that previously cleared HDV should be considered when administering chemotherapy to patients with lymphoma
New treatment of chronic hepatitis B
No full textWorldwide, 350 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis B. Over the last few years, it has been possible to treat chronic hepatitis B. Treatment very often consists of nucleos(t)ide analogs and in a few cases of pegylated alpha-interferon. In 2007, a new nucleoside analog, Telbivudine, was approved to treat chronic hepatitis B. In phase II and ongoing phase III studies, Telbivudine has proven more effective than the nucleoside analog, Lamivudine, which was very often used up until recently. Udgivelsesdato: 2008-Nov-2
Transient elastography for liver fibrosis diagnosis
No full textUdgivelsesdato: 2009-JulLiver biopsy is considered the "golden standard" for assessment of hepatic fibrosis. However, the procedure has limitations because of inconvenience and rare but serious complications as bleeding. Furthermore, sampling errors are frequent, and interobserver variability often poses problems. Recently, a modified ultrasound scanner (transient elastography) has been developed to assess fibrosis. The device measures liver elasticity, which correlates well with the degree of fibrosis. Studies have shown that transient elastography is more accurate in diagnosing cirrhosis than minor to moderate fibrosis. Most of the studies have been conducted on patients with chronic hepatitis but a few studies have also covered fibrosis and cirrhosis due to other etiologies, and they also demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity. Transient elastography for assessment of fibrosis may turn out to be a valuable diagnostic procedure and follow-up of patients with chronic liver diseases
Transient elastography for liver fibrosis diagnosis
No full textUdgivelsesdato: 2009-JulLiver biopsy is considered the "golden standard" for assessment of hepatic fibrosis. However, the procedure has limitations because of inconvenience and rare but serious complications as bleeding. Furthermore, sampling errors are frequent, and interobserver variability often poses problems. Recently, a modified ultrasound scanner (transient elastography) has been developed to assess fibrosis. The device measures liver elasticity, which correlates well with the degree of fibrosis. Studies have shown that transient elastography is more accurate in diagnosing cirrhosis than minor to moderate fibrosis. Most of the studies have been conducted on patients with chronic hepatitis but a few studies have also covered fibrosis and cirrhosis due to other etiologies, and they also demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity. Transient elastography for assessment of fibrosis may turn out to be a valuable diagnostic procedure and follow-up of patients with chronic liver diseases
Prevalence of hepatitis B and C at a major tuberculosis centre in Denmark
No full textBackground: Denmark is a low-prevalence country for tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV) but the three diseases have similar sociodemographic risk factors. We estimated the prevalence and possible risk factors of HBV and HCV among TB-patients in a large TB clinic in Denmark. Methods: All patients starting anti-TB-treatment at Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev-Gentofte from April 1st 2018 through June 1st 2019 were included. Results from HBV and HCV testing as well as sociodemographic information were collected. Risk factor analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 82 patients tested for HBV, one (1.2%) had chronic HBV and 16 (19.5%) had serocleared HBV. Of 91 patients tested for HCV, three (3.3%) had chronic HCV and one (1.1%) had serocleared HCV. Country of origin other than Denmark was significantly associated with HBV-seropositivity among TB-patients, particularly patients from Greenland, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. No other significantly associated risk factors were found. Conclusion: The prevalences of chronic and prior HBV and HCV among TB-patients were lower compared to studies in TB high endemic areas but higher than those found in the Danish background population. We calculated the number needed to test to find one patient with HBV ranged between 27 and 83 and we suggest continuing screening of chronic HBV and HCV in TB-patients in Denmark.</p
Investigation of the detoxification mechanism of formaldehyde-treated tetanus toxin
No full text Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Mar-8 The tetanus vaccine is based on the extremely potent tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT), which is converted by treatment with formaldehyde and lysine into the non-toxic, but still immunogenic tetanus toxoid (TTd). This formaldehyde-induced detoxification, which to a large extend determines the quality and properties of the vaccine component, occurs through partly unknown chemical modifications of the toxin. The aim of this study was to gain knowledge of the detoxification mechanism in the generation of the tetanus vaccine. Two approaches were chosen: (i) the effect of changes in the concentrations of lysine and formaldehyde in the detoxification process and (ii) characterisation of the chemically detoxified TTd. (i) We examined a number of TTd components that was produced by varying the concentrations of formaldehyde and lysine during the inactivation. Toxicity tests showed that the detoxification failed when the lysine or formaldehyde concentration was < or =1/5 or < or =1/10, respectively, of the standard level. Gel-electrophoretic analyses showed that inter-chain cross-linking was formaldehyde-dependent and, furthermore, revealed that inter-chain cross-linking was not the only requirement for the inactivation. In addition, the measurable amount of tyrosine correlated inversely with the degree of inter-chain cross-linking. (ii) To study the formaldehyde-induced chemical modifications, the TTd was investigated using protein chemical techniques in combination with mass spectrometry (MS). Using off-line liquid chromatography (LC)-MS, the most pronounced chemical modifications were characterised as unstable Schiff-bases (+12 Da) located on lysine residues and the N-termini of peptides throughout the molecule. Several arginine residues were also found with +12 Da modifications due to Schiff-base formation or as a consequence of degenerative fragmentation of lysine/formaldehyde adducts or cross-links during MS. A few tyrosine residues were similarly observed with a mass increase of 12 Da. Even though it cannot be ruled out that this is a residual mass of higher molecule adducts or cross-links to tyrosine, amino acid analysis and MS data indicated that the modification forms a ring structure from a carbon in the aromatic ring to the backbone N(alpha). In addition, several mono-varepsilon-methyllysines (+14 Da) were observed as a likely consequence of reductive methylation of the Schiff-bases. A substantial part (87%) of the known TeNT sequence, including the active site, was covered using the off-line LC-MS approach to investigate the tryptic digested TTd. In contrast to the results obtained from the gel-electrophoretic experiments, neither intra/inter-chain cross-links nor cross-links to external lysines were observed in the MS analysis. Instability of the cross-links during separation and/or MS is likely to explain their absence in the analyses. The biological relevance of the observed modifications is discussed in relation to 3D mapping analyses. Proposals for the TeNT detoxification are discussed, although no direct evidence for the exact mechanism could be obtained
IP-10 can be measured in dried plasma spots in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.
No full textThe chemokine IP-10 (CXCL10) is a candidate marker for hepatitis C virus (HCV) fibrosis monitoring. The aim of this proof-of-concept study is to assess if IP-10 measurements from dried plasma spots (DPS) are accurate in HCV-infected patients with either minimal or significant fibrosis. We measured IP-10 levels in plasma and DPS of 21 HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis and 19 patients with no/little fibrosis (determined with FibroScan). Cirrhotic patients had significantly higher levels of IP-10 compared to patients with minimal fibrosis. DPS and plasma measurements of IP-10 are comparable and the correlation was excellent (r(2) = 0.97, p<0.0001). The DPS based method for IP-10 detection performs well in HCV-infected patients with either minimal or significant fibrosis
IP-10 measurements.
No full text<p>IP-10 measured in plasma (left) and dried plasma spots (right) from 19 patients with chronic hepatitis C infection and no/mild liver fibrosis and 21 patients with liver cirrhosis. Line denote median. There was a significant difference between the groups in both plasma and dried plasma spots, p<0.0004.</p
A comparison of Receiver Operation Characteristic Curves of IP-10 determined in dried plasma spots and plasma.
No full text<p>Analysis included samples from 21 patients with cirrhosis (regarded as cases) and 19 patients with no/mild fibrosis (regarded controls in the analysis). The Area Under the Curve reflects the markers’ ability to differentiate between the two groups of patients. There was no significant difference between the two methods.</p
