171,301 research outputs found
Hepatitis C virus and cardiovascular: A review
No full textAbstractChronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a systemic disease that leads to increased risks of cirrhosis and its complications, as well as extrahepatic disturbances, including immune-related disorders and metabolic alterations such as insulin resistance and steatosis. Recent accumulating evidence suggests that HCV infection can increase cardiovascular risk, and that viral eradication can improve cardiovascular outcomes in the clinical setting. These data are strengthened by evidence identifying potential mechanisms (in)directly linking HCV infection to vascular damage. However, the high prevalence of both HCV infection and cardiovascular alterations, as well as the presence of contrasting results not identifying any association between HCV infection and cardiovascular dysfunction, provides uncertainty about a direct association of HCV infection with cardiovascular risk. Further studies are needed to clarify definitively the role of HCV infection in cardiovascular alterations, as well as the impact of viral eradication on cardiovascular outcomes. These features are now more attractive, considering the availability of new, safe, and very effective interferon-free antiviral agents for the treatment of HCV infection. This review aims to discuss carefully available data on the relationship between HCV infection and cardiovascular risk
Introduction to the Special Issue: The AgentLink III Technical Forums
No full textThis article introduces the special issue of ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems devoted to research papers arising from the three Technical Forum Group meetings held in 2004 and 2005 that were organized and sponsored by the European FP6 Coordination Action AgentLink III
Extrahepatic Manifestations of Chronic Viral C Hepatitis
No full textHepatits C virus (HCV) infection has been largely associated with extrahepatic comorbidities such as diseases related to dysregulation of the immune system, neuropsychiatric disorders, and cardiometabolic alterations. These clinical consequences, together with experimental evidence, suggest a potential (in)direct effect of HCV, contributing to the pathogenesis of these diseases. Various studies have reported a positive effect of viral eradication on occurrence and outcomes of extrahepatic diseases. These observations and the availability of safe and effective direct antiviral agents further underline the need to search for virological eradication in all infected individuals independent of the severity of the liver disease
Dalla città «etrusca» ai Sanniti. Le dinamiche della trasformazione a Pontecagnano tra V e IV secolo a.C.
No full textDuring the 5th century BC, the center of Pontecagnano faced radical changes, after an overall reorganization at the end of the 6th century, when the city walls were built and a new town planning was realized, with regular blocks delimited per strigas et per scamnas (same the countryside was regularly divided). Until this period, the community of Pontecagnano reveals a prevalent «Etruscan» identity (as shown by the epigraphic record). From the middle of the 5th century, the archaeological evidence indicates a crisis of this system, as the building activity decreased, and some funerary areas were abandoned. Starting from this period until the 4th century, the Pontecagnano’s necropolises were progressively occupied by graves characterized
by an «Italic» burial habits. Size and origin of these groups were diversified. The arrival of large groups from the Sangro area can be dated during the middle/third quarter of the 5th century BC. The burial plots have a regular planning, mostly rectangular and oriented along the ancient road course: they limited dozens of tombs, with a reduced number (or without) of grave goods. Some men exhibit the spear and the bronze belt. Women often wear a characteristic brooch, as the so-called «airplane fibula», similar to the types found in the Sangro area (Alfedena; AQ) but also in the necropolises of Gildone (CB)
and Benevento.
In the following decades the arrivals of «foreign» individuals and groups increase. They can be recognized by the funerary customs: the fossa grave, typical for the previous periods, is often replaced by chest made and covered by stone slabs; the male burials are characterized by the possession of weapons (especially spear and bronze belt, rarely by bronze cuirass and greave) and catalyze the internal organization of the new funerary groups. This first phase of «samnitization» of Pontecagnano (the second and even clearer is dated during the 4th century) is determined by the movement of groups from the inner area of central Italy, but also from the italic groups of Neapolis (as suggested by the onomastics in Greek inscriptions). It does not completely upset the previous organization of the town and its community, as demonstrated by the continuity of Etruscan elements in the written record and also in the use of the urban sanctuaries and necropolises. The urban planning of Pontecagnano was preserved as well during this period, although sometimes the reconstruction of houses and variation of the blocks dimensions suggests changes in the ownership
Optimal therapy in hepatitis C virus genotypes 2 and 3 patients.
No full textCurrent guidelines recommend that patients with genotype 2 (G2) and 3 (G3) chronic hepatitis C be treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus low doses of ribavirin (800 mg/day) for 24 weeks, resulting in a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of approximately 80%. Considering these high response rates, several recent randomized trials have assessed whether shorter treatment (12-16 weeks) could be cost-effective in these patients. The results of these studies vary but suggest better responsiveness in G2 patients, and overall, do not strongly support reducing treatment to G3, viral load < 400 000 IU, low fibrosis, no metabolic cofactors), shorter treatment is as effective as standard regimens, and that it can be proposed mainly if problems of poor tolerance or adherence are foreseen. It is possible that the SVR rate in non-RVR patients and non-responder patients could also be improved by prolonging therapy, but this must be specifically investigated in other studies along with the role of IL28B polymorphisms
Insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus in patients with chronic hepatitis C: spectators or actors?
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