Hepatitis Monthly

Brief Report

28/11/2015

Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence Among Blood Donors in Bushehr, South of Iran

Behrouz Naeimi, Farnaz Mazloom Kalimani, Ali Akbar Pourfatolah, Masoud Azimzadeh, Alireza Mankhian, Samad Akbarzadeh, Gholamreza Hajiani, Faramarz Kooshesh, Gholamreza Khamisipour

Research Article

7/11/2015

Persistence of Anti-HBs Among Palestinian Medical Students After 18 - 22 Years of Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study

Kamal Dumaidi, Amer Al-Jawabreh

Results: Over 75% (188/248) of students had levels of anti-HBs greater than 10 mIU/mL indicating immunity and protection. Five cases had positive results for anti-HBc indicating exposure to HBV infection; however, none of these cases showed any sign of HBV-DNA indicating effective clearance of the virus by the vaccine. Around 57% of the study group had anti-HBs level of 100 - 1000 mIU/mL. No significant association was found between anti-HBs level and age, sex, locality and level of anti-HBc (P > 0.05). The students were aware of different aspects of hepatitis B infection regarding the virus, symptoms, prevention and mode of transmission.

Research Article

28/11/2015

Tumor Suppressor DLEC1 can Stimulate the Proliferation of Cancer Cells When AP-2ɑ2 is Down-Regulated in HCT116

Guo-Hua Qiu, Xiaojin Xie, Linhong Deng, Shing Chuan Hooi

Materials and Methods: Stable clones with DLEC1 over-expression were first established by the transfection of DLEC1 expression construct pcDNA31DLEC1 in HCT116. On G418 selection, positive stable clones were screened for DLEC1 expression level by conventional reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and verified by real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting. Subsequently, these stable clones were subjected to colony formation and cell cycle analyses and identification of factors involved in G1 arrest. Lastly, three stable clones, DLEC1-7 (highest DLEC1 expression), DLEC1-3 (lowest expression) and pcDNA31 vector control, were employed to analyze cell proliferation and cell cycle after AP-2α2 knockdown by siRNAs.

Results: The DLEC1 over-expression was found to reduce the number of colonies in colony formation and to induce G1 arrest in seven clones, and apoptosis in one clone in the cell cycle analysis. Furthermore, regardless of the different cell cycle defects in all eight stable clones, the expression level of transcriptional factor AP-2α2 was found to be elevated. More interestingly, we found that when AP-2α2 was knocked down, DLEC1 over-expression neither suppressed cancer cell growth nor induced G1 arrest, yet, instead promoted cell growth and decreased cells in the G1 fraction. This promotion of cell proliferation and release of G1 cells also seemed to be proportional to DLEC1 expression levels in DLEC1 stable clones.

Research Article

28/11/2015

Relative Expression of Toll-Like Receptors 2 and 7 mRNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients With Hepatitis C

Mahdi Dehghan-Manshadi, Hossein Hadinedoushan, Mohammad Kazem Amirbaigy, Fateme Zare, Gilda Eslami, Seyyed Ali Mirghanizade-Bafghi, Mohsen Akhondi-Meybodi

Results: Our results showed that the expressions of TLR7 in HCV infected samples were significantly increased in comparison those of the controls (P = 0.02), while the expression of TLR2 was similar between the case and the control group (P = 0.8). There were no associations between the expression levels of TLR2 and TLR7 with HCV viral load and HCV genotypes. Also, there was no association between viral load and genotypes of the virus.

Research Article

28/11/2015

Trends in the Burden of Hepatitis B in a Southern Brazilian State

Chaiana Esmeraldino Mendes Marcon, Ione Jayce Ceola Schneider, Fabiana Schuelter-Trevisol, Jefferson Traebert

Results: The state of Santa Catarina showed an increase of 11.9% (95% CI 0.9, 24.2) per year in YLL rates. A significant increase was observed for men and within the 70 - 79 age group. There was a significant decrease of -9.4% (95% CI -16.1, -2.2) in the YLD rates per year. The decline was significant for women and within the 15-34 age group. Regarding the DALY rates, the state of Santa Catarina showed a decline of -6.6% (95% CI: -11.0, -2.0) per year. Significant decreases occurred for females and within the 15 - 29 and 45 - 59 age groups. However, there was a significant increase within the 70 - 79 age range.

Review Article

28/11/2015

A Meta-Analysis of the Association Between the I148M Variant of Patatin-Like Phospholipase Domain Containing 3 Gene and the Presence of Chronic Hepatitis C

Haiying Zhang, Li Xue, Lizhen Chen, Shunshun Jiang, Yongning Xin, Shiying Xuan

Evidence Acquisition: This study was a meta-analysis of all relevant researches published in the literature from year 2000 to 2015. The odds ratios (ORs) of PNPLA3 allele distributions in CHC patients were analyzed and compared with healthy controls. The meta-analysis Revman 5.2 software was applied for investigating heterogeneity among individual studies and for summarizing all the studies. The meta-analysis was carried out according to the Cochrane Reviewers’ Handbook recommendations. A total of 120 clinical trials or reports were retrieved, yet only five trials met the study selection criteria.

Research Article

28/11/2015

Association Between the Severity of Nocturnal Hypoxia in Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Damage

Erol Cakmak, Faysal Duksal, Engin Altinkaya, Fettah Acibucu, Omer Tamer Dogan, Ozlem Yonem, Abdulkerim Yilmaz

Patients and Methods: In this study, between December 2011 and December 2013, patients with ultrasound-diagnosed NAFLD evaluated by standart polysomnography were subsequentally recorded. Patients with alcohol use, viral hepatitis and other chronic liver diseases were excluded. We analyzed polysomnographic parameters, steatosis level and severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in consideration of body mass index (BMI), biochemical tests and ultrasonographic liver data of 137 subjects. Patients with sleep apnea and AHI scores of < 5, 5 - 14, 15 - 29 and ≥30 are categorized as control, mild, moderate and severe, respectively.

Results: One hundred and thirty-seven patients (76 women, 61 men) with a mean age of 55.75 ± 10.13 years who underwent polysomnography were included in the study. Of 118 patients diagnosed with OSA, 19 (16.1%) had mild OSA, 39 (33.1%) moderate OSA and 60 (50.8%) severe OSA. Nineteen cases formed the control group. Apnea/hypopnea index and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) values were significantly higher in moderate and severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) compared to the non-NAFLD group. Mean nocturnal SpO₂ values were significantly lower in mild NAFLD and severe NAFLD compared to the non-NAFLD group. Lowest O₂ saturation (LaSO₂) was found low in mild, moderate and severe NAFLD compared to the non-NAFLD group in a statistically significant manner.

Editorial

28/11/2015

Occult Hepatitis C Infection Should Be More Noticed With New Treatment Strategies

Mohammad Saeid Rezaee Zavareh, Seyed Moayed Alavian

Research Article

7/11/2015

Neutrophil Elastase Inhibitor Following Liver Resection: A Matched Cohort Study

Shintaro Yamazaki, Tadatoshi Takayama, Masamichi Moriguchi, Yuki Hayashi, Yusuke Mitsuka, Nao Yoshida, Tokio Higaki

Patients and Methods: The data were collected from 374 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo liver resection. Seven perioperative variables were matched on the basis of the patients’ background. Then, the NEI (n = 61) and control (n = 61) groups were compared. NEI was administered at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg/h for three days from the postoperative day 0 (POD0). The liver function, coagulation activity, inflammatory response, respiratory complications, and overall complications were compared.

Results: The levels of serum interleukin-6 (NEI group: 113 pg/mL [26.9 - 522.0] vs. control group: 174 [28.6 - 1040.6], P < 0.01) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (2.9 IU/L [range: 0.1 - 8.6] vs. 4.11 [0.3 - 13.8], P = 0.01) on the first postoperative day (POD1) and the alveolar-arterial oxygen tension difference (32.3 Torr [-28.6 - 132.3] vs. 46.6 [-11.2 - 251.6], P = 0.04) on the third postoperative day (POD3) were significantly lower in the NEI group than the control group. The rate of pleural effusion was significantly lower in the NEI group compared to that of the control group [13 patients (21.3%) vs. 23 (37.7%), P = 0.04]. However, the coagulation activities (P = 0.68), liver function (P = 0.69), non-respiratory complications (P = 0.84), and overall complications (P = 0.71) did not differ significantly between the groups.

Letter

28/11/2015

Comment to “Telaprevir Experience From Turkey”

Tarik Akar, Dilek Malkoc, Selim Aydemir

Research Article

28/11/2015

Effects of Pentoxifylline on Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Iran

Nadieh Baniasadi, Faranak Salajegheh, Abbas Pardakhty, Seyed Mehdi Seyedmirzaee, Mohammad Mahdi Hayatbakhsh, Amin Reza Nikpoor, Mojgan Mohammadi

Patients and Methods: Thirty patients with NASH were included in the study, based on ultrasonography and 1.5-fold mean change from baseline serum levels of liver aminotransferases. Patients with NASH were randomized to receive 1200 mg PTX (the intervention group) or placebo (the placebo group) for 6 months. The serum levels of liver aminotransferases and cytokines were compared between the intervention and placebo groups, at various time points.

Results: The serum levels of liver aminotransferases were significantly reduced at 3 months and at 6 months, compared with baseline, in both groups. The serum levels of IL-6 were significantly decreased, in both groups, only at 6 months, compared with baseline. Compared to the placebo group, the serum level of TNF-α was significantly decreased in the intervention group, at 6 months. The serum level of IL-8 was increased, in both groups, after 6 months, without reaching clinical significance. There was no significant difference in serum levels of liver aminotransferases and cytokines, between intervention and placebo groups.

Hepatitis Monthly: Nov 2015, 15 (11), 11 articles.