756 research outputs found
Liver Transplantation in Hepatitis B/Hepatitis D (Delta) Virus Coinfected Recipients
No full textHepatitis D is caused by the hepatitis D virus (HDV); it is the most severe form of viral hepatitis in humans, running an accelerated course to cirrhosis. There is no efficacious therapy, and liver transplantation provides the only therapeutic option for terminal HDV disease. However, HDV infection is prevalent in poor countries of the world with no access to liver transplant programs; liver grafting has been performed in high-income countries, where the prevalence of the infection has much diminished as a secondary effect of hepatitis B virus vaccination, and the demand for liver transplantation outlives in aging cirrhotics who acquired hepatitis D decades ago. This review describes the evolution of liver transplantation for HDV disease from its inception in 1987 to the present time, with an outlook to its future. It reports the progress in the prophylaxis of HDV reinfections to the success of the current standard of indefinite combination of hepatitis B virus antivirals with immunoglobulins against the hepatitis B surface antigen; however, the unique biology of the virus provides a rationale to reducing costs by limiting the administration of the immunoglobulins against the hepatitis B surface antigen
Tecnologie belliche e danno al proprio combattente: il ruolo della responsabilità civile in una comparazione fra il caso statunitense dell’Agent Orange e il caso italiano dell’uranio impoverito = War technologies and home soldiers injuries: the role of tort law in a comparison between the american “Agent Orange” and the Italian “depleted uranium” litigations
No full textQuesto lavoro si prefigge di esplorare in che modo la responsabilità civile interagisce con altri strumenti giuridici contemplati dall’ordinamento per assicurare la riparazione dei danni subiti da appartenenti alle forze armate nazionali durante lo svolgimento di attività belliche a causa dell’impiego di particolari tecnologie adottate per aumentare il potenziale offensivo e il livello di afflittività sul nemico delle proprie azioni di guerra. ENGLISH ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to explore how tort law interacts with other legal instruments considered by the legal system in order to guarantee the redress of war damages suffered by the members of the national armed forces during military activities, which included the use of special war technologies. Accordingly, the survey aims to present a range of factors necessary to assess how tort law has carried out this function, within both the American and Italian legal system. This will be accomplished by focusing on the events which followed the use of two lethal, technology-induced substances: the Agent Orange, used by the United States army in Vietnam, and the Depleted Uranium, used in more recent wars scenarios in which Italian soldiers were involved. Questo paper © Copyright 2010 by Federico Rizzetto è pubblicato con Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non commerciale-Non opere derivate 2.5 Italia License. Maggiori informazioni circa la licenza all’URL: <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/it/
COULD SALT WATER INTRUSION AND LAND SUBSIDENCE TRIGGER SOIL DESERTIFICATION IN THE CATCHMENT SOUTH OF THE VENICE LAGOON (ITALY)-
No full textThe catchment south of the Venice Lagoon is threatened by shallow aquifer salinization and land subsidence. Although the area is not experiencing everywhere saline contamination and high sinking rates, a very serious situation has been brought to light in a large portion of the coastal farmland. The salt water contamination, recently investigated within a series of research projects, i.e. ISES, BRENTA, Co.Ri.La. 3.10-3.16, extends up to 20 km inland from the coast (Carbognin and Tosi, 2003; Rizzetto et al., 2003; Carbognin et al., 2005, 2005b). The depth of the fresh/salt-water interface varies from 1 to 30 m below the ground level and exhibits a significant, mainly seasonal, time variation. The dynamics of the soil salinization process is especially sensitive to changes in river (Brenta, Bacchiglione, Adige, Gorzone) discharges, in groundwater and channel levels regulated by a number of pumping stations of the reclamation network, and in weather conditions. At the same time an ongoing land subsidence with rates varying from few mm/yr to cm/yr affects the southern lagoon margin and the nearby watershed (Tosi et al., 2000; Teatini et al., 2007). The settlement of these territories is mainly due to natural consolidation (Teatini et al., 2005) and geochemical subsidence, i.e. peat oxidation promoted by farming activities (Gambolati et al., 2005).
Salt water intrusion and land subsidence combined with significant dry seasons expose this area to the potential soil desertification. The combined effect of both processes is producing an alarming social and environmental impact on the south Venice coastland, also in relation to the expected global climate change.PublishedRimini, Italy6A. Monitoraggio ambientale, sicurezza e territorioope
Hepatitis D virus infection: Pathophysiology, epidemiology and treatment. Report from the first international delta cure meeting 2022
No full textChronic infection with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) affects between 12-20 million people worldwide and represents the most severe form of viral hepatitis, leading to accelerated liver disease progression, cirrhosis and its complications, such as end-stage-liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. From the discovery of HDV in 1977 by Prof. Mario Rizzetto, knowledge on the HDV life cycle and mechanisms of viral spread has expanded. However, little is still known about the natural history of the disease, host-viral interactions, and the role of the immune system in HDV persistence. Diagnosis of HDV is still challenging due to a lack of standardised assays, while accurate viral load quantification is needed to assess response and endpoints of antiviral treatment. Until recently, interferon has represented the only treatment option in patients with chronic hepatitis delta; however, it is associated with low efficacy and a high burden of side effects. The discovery of the entry inhibitor bulevirtide has represented a breakthrough in HDV treatment, by demonstrating high rates of viral suppression in phase II and III trials, results which have been confirmed in real-world settings and in patients with compensated advanced liver disease. In the meantime, other compounds (i.e. lonafarnib, new anti-hepatitis B virus drugs) are under development to provide alternative or combined strategies for HDV cure. The first international Delta Cure meeting was organised in Milan in October 2022 with the aim of sharing and disseminating the latest data; this review summarises key takeaway messages from state-of-the-art lectures and research data on HDV
Liver transplantation in Italy: current status. Study Group on Liver Transplantation of the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (A.I.S.F.)
No full textThe first liver transplant in Italy was performed in 1982. With the improvement in results, the number of patients followed, in recent years, has substantially increased in all centres. In parallel, the indications for liver transplantation have expanded and have raised the need for more organized structures where patients can be referred for evaluation and transplantation. Indications and contraindications to liver transplantation in Italy, the role of retransplantation, paediatric liver transplantation, waiting list management, liver transplantation outside Italy and the new Italian laws on organ donation are discussed. The multidisciplinary Study Group on Liver Transplantation of the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF) has collected information from all the Italian centres to ascertain the degree of consistency in their methods
Quantitation of anti-HBe antibodies in anti-HBc-positive liver donors
No full textThe present findings appear relevant in the HBsAg-negative/anti-HBc-positive individuals undergoing immunosuppressive therapy or chemotherapy;6 the possibility to further stratify the risk of viral reactivation by means of com- bined antibody markers may be useful to tailor their manage- ment with HBV antivirals
Esophageal achalasia: Is the herpes simplex virus really innocent?
No full textThis study was designed to test the hypothesis that mononuclear cells in the myenteric plexus of patients with achalasia may be activated by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Strips of esophageal muscle were obtained from patients with achalasia and multiorgan transplant donors who served as control subjects. After muscle digestion, mononuclear cells were purified through a Percoll gradient and cultured in medium, either alone or containing ultraviolet-inactivated HSV-1 or poliovirus (multiplicity of infection 1:1.5). As an indicator of HSV-1-induced lymphocyte activation, we determined T-cell proliferation by means of 3H-thymidine incorporation and interferon gamma release. DNA was extracted from esophageal muscle of achalasia patients and control subjects, and used as a template for PCR analysis using primer pairs specific for HSV-1. Circulating anti-HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on serum samples. Fifteen patients with naive achalasia and eight control subjects were studied. The prevalence of circulating anti-HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies proved similar in the two groups, and no HSV-1 DNA was detected by polyermase chain reaction in the esophageal muscle samples. The proliferative index in mononuclear cells from achalasia patients stimulated with HSV-1 showed a 3.4-fold increase in comparison with control subjects (P<0.01). In addition, a 1.4-fold increase in interferon gamma release after incubation with HSV-1 was observed in cells from achalasia patients but not control subjects. The results of this study indicate that HSV-1-reactive immune cells are present in lower esophageal sphincter muscles of patients with achalasia. We hypothesize that the HSV-1-reactive lymphocytes in lower esophageal sphincter muscles of achalasia patients may contribute to damage of the neurons in the myenteric plexus and lead to the motor dysfunction
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Tolerability of Peg interferon-alpha 2b and Ribavirin therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
No full text
Hepatitis D: Thirty years after
No full textThe key to the discovery of the Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) was the description in Turin, Italy in the mid-1970s of the delta antigen and antibody in carriers of the hepatitis B surface antigen. The new antigen was first thought to be a marker of the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and in view of its intricate true nature, it would have possibly died away as another odd antigenic subtype of HBV, like many that were described in the 1970s. Fortunately, instead, a collaboration started in 1978 between the Turin group, and the National Institute of Health and Georgetown University in the US. With American facilities and expertise this collaboration led just a year later, in 1979, to the unfolding of an unexpected and amazing chapter in virology. Experiments in chimpanzees demonstrated that the delta antigen was not a component of the HBV but of a separate defective virus requiring HBV for its infection; it was named the hepatitis D virus to conform to the nomenclature of hepatitis viruses and classified within the genus Deltavirus. The animal experiments were also seminal in proposing to future clinical interpretation, the paradigm of a pathogenic infection (hepatitis D), that could develop only in HBV-infected patients, was mainly transmitted by superinfection of HDV on chronic HBV carriers and had the ability to strongly inhibit the helper HBV. The discovery of the HDV has driven three directions of further research:(1)The understanding of the replicative and infectious mechanisms of the HDV.(2)The assessment of its epidemiological and medical impact.(3)The search for a therapy for chronic hepatitis D (CHD).This review summarizes the progress achieved in each field of research in the thirty years that have passed since the discovery of HDV
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