1,721,099 research outputs found
Impact of socioeconomic status on the clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a retrospective analysis
Full text linkAIM: A disadvantaged socioeconomic status (SES) was previously associated with higher incidence and poor outcomes both of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and infectious diseases. Inequalities in health services also have a negative effect on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) morbidity and mortality. SUBJECT AND METHODS: The study analysed the role of SES measured by the educational level (EL) in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 between 9 March 2020 and 20 September 2021 at our centre of infectious diseases. Clinical outcomes were: length of hospitalisation, in-hospital mortality and the need of intensive-care-unit (ICU) support. RESULTS: There were 566 patients included in this retrospective analysis. Baseline EL was: illiterate (5, 0.9%), primary school (99, 17.5%), secondary school (228, 40.3%), high school (211, 37.3%), degree (23, 4.1%); median age was higher in low EL (72.5 years vs 61 years, p = 0.003), comorbidity (56% in low EL, 34.6% in high EL, p < 0.001), time from the symptoms and PCR diagnosis (8.5 days in low EL, 6.5 days in high EL, p < 0.001), hospitalisation length (11.5 days in low EL, 9.5 days in high EL, p = 0.011), mortality rate (24.7% in low EL, 13.2% in high EL, p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis there were predictors of mortality: age (OR = 4.981; 95%CI 2.172–11.427; p < 0.001), comorbidities (OR = 3.227; 95%CI 2.515–11.919; p = 0.007), ICU admission (OR = 6.997; 95%CI 2.334–31.404; p = 0.011), high vs low EL (OR = 0.761; 95%CI 0.213–0.990; p = 0.021). In survival analysis, higher EL was associated with a decreased risk of mortality up to 23.9%. CONCLUSION: Even though the EL is mainly related to the age of patients, in our analysis, it resulted as an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality and hospitalisation time. Unfortunately, this is a study focused only on hospitalised patients, and we did not examine the possible effect of EL in outpatients. Further analyses are required to confirm this suggestion and provide novel information
Sequential therapy with entecavir and pegylated interferon in a cohort of young patients affected by chronic hepatitis B
No full textThe treatment of patients affected by active chronic hepatitis B (CHB) could performed using a finite-time therapy with pegylated-interferon alpha (PEG-IFN) or indefinite time treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs). Current practice guidelines do not provide the combined use of PEG-IFN and NAs, but some studies analyzed various combined approach with NAs and PEG-IFN with encouraging result. In this perspective study we have treated 39 patients with different hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes, hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg)-positive/negative using a sequential therapy with entecavir (ETV) 0.5 mg/day monotherapy for 12 weeks followed by combination of ETV and PEG-IFN α-2a 180μg/week for 12 weeks, then PEG-IFN monotherapy for 36 weeks. HBeAg seroconversion rate was 68.2%; HBsAg loss was 33.3%; sustained virological response (SVR) was 64.1%; primary non-response was observed in 8 patients (20.5%) after 12 weeks of PEG-IFN therapy; virological relapse was reported in 6 (15.3%) patients. Viral genotype and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) decline were the most important predictive factor for PEG-IFN response. The stopping rule after 12 weeks of PEG-IFN therapy is useful for identify the non-responders. Our study offers interesting and promising results using a sequential combined therapy with ETV and PEG-IFN in a cohort of young patient with active CHB. These results, however, should not be generalized and further investigations are required for the confirmation of advantage of this combination approach. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients with Chronic HBV Infection and Hospitalized for COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Full text linkThe effects of a concomitant infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are still debated, with a recognized major risk of HBV reactivation during immune-suppressive treatments. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictive factors of HBV reactivation in a cohort of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and a current or past hepatitis B infection. In a monocentric retrospective observational study, we enrolled all consecutive hospital admitted patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and a positive HBV serology (N = 84) in our Infectious Diseases Unit from April 2021 to December 2023. We identified 18 (21%) HBsAg-positive/anti-HBc-positive, 41 (49%) HBsAg-negative/anti-HBc-positive/anti-HBs-positive, and 25 (30%) HBsAg-negative/anti-HBc-positive/anti-HBs-negative subjects. The overall rate of hepatitis flare was 10.7%, without any HBsAg seroreversion, severe HBV reactivation, and/or need for new HBV antiviral therapy introduction. Systemic corticosteroid treatment for COVID-19 and baseline anti-HBsAg status were associated with this risk of HBV reactivation. In conclusion, the overall risk of hepatitis flares in hospitalized COVID-19 was reasonably low, with higher doses of corticosteroids treatment being the major risk factor for HBV reactivation, and anti-HBs-positive serological status as a protective element
Role of IL28B genotype in the liver stiffness increase in untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C
No full textThe role of interleukin (IL)28B has been deepened in the treatment response to pegylated-interferon in patients affected by chronic hepatitis C (CHC). However, recently the IL28B genotypes were also related to hepatic fibrosis progression in untreated patients, using the liver biopsy. The aim of this prospective and longitudinal study was to assess the role of different IL28B genotypes in the liver stiffness progression in a cohort of untreated subjects affected by CHC. We included in this analysis all untreated patients affected by CHC and followed for at least 5years with the annual evaluation of liver stiffness using Fibroscan®. All enrolled subjects were genotyped for rs8099917 and rs12979860 IL28B polymorphisms. In the study period, 266 patients were considered. After 5years we observed the following median stiffness increases: 6.7kPa [5.1-7.8] in TT/CC, 4.9kPa [4.1-5.0] in TT/TC, 3.4kPa [3.2-3.8] in TG/TC and 1.7kPa [1.2-1.9] in GG/TT. These values were statistically significant in all groups (p<0.001). In the multivariate analysis resulted as predictive factors of liver stiffness progression the following: IL28B TT/CC genotype (OR=4.571; 95%IC=2.381-12.994; p<0.001) and IL28B GG/TT genotype (OR=0.510; 95%IC=0.289-0.712; p=0.007). In this study we evidenced that IL28B genotypes were associated with a different level of liver stiffness increase after 5years and could be used to select the patients who should be treated with priority
Role of IL28B genotyping in patients with hepatitis C virus-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia and response to PEG-IFN and ribavirin treatment
No full textThe role of interleukin (IL) 28B in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) has recently been examined in many studies, while a possible relationship between IL28B and the presence of mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) remains to be clarified. In this study, we analyzed the influence of IL28B rs8099917/rs12979860 on the presence of MC and the role in treatment with PEG-IFN. We retrospectively examined 541 patients affected by CHC who were treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin from 2003 to 2012. We included all treatment-naïve patients without other viral co-infections or major contraindications to the PEG-IFN and ribavirin standard of care. One hundred seventy-five patients (32.3 %) had MC; 49 of these (33.3 %) had symptomatic MC. The IL28B rs8099917/rs12979860 TT/CC genotype was the most frequent in MC-positive patients with sustained virological response (SVR) (p < 0.001), while the TG/TC genotype was most frequent in non-SVR (p < 0.001). The TT/CC genotype was found to be the main positive predictive factor of MC in HCV patients (OR = 11.914; IQR = 7.092-18.776; p < 0.001); HCV genotype 2/3 was the strongest positive predictive factor of SVR (OR = 10.448; IQR = 8.352-21.561; p < 0.001); IL28B rs8099917/rs12979860 TT/CC was a better predictive factor than rs12979860 CC alone (OR = 9.829 vs. 2.663). Negative predictive factors were Metavir score F3-F4 (OR = 0.625; IQR = 0.416-0.779; p = 0.008), insulin-resistance (OR = 0.315; IQR = 0.224-0.585; p < 0.001) and presence of symptoms (OR = 0.716; IQR = 0.492-0.855; p < 0.001). IL28B rs8099917/rs12979860 is useful in the treatment of MC-positive HCV patients with PEG-IFN and ribavirin; the TT/CC genotype is associated with SVR, the TG/TC with non-SVR; TT/CC is also predictive of MC in HCV patients
VDR gene polymorphisms impact on anemia at 2 week of anti-HCV therapy: a possible mechanism for early RBV-induced anemia
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