Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A case of acute hepatitis induced by zidovudine in a 38-year-old patient with AIDS is presented. The mechanism whereby the hepatitis was induced is not known. However, the patient tolerated well an alternative reverse transcriptase inhibitor, 2'3' dideoxyinosine. Physicians caring for patients with AIDS should be aware of this hitherto rarely reported complication.
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PMID:Zidovudine-induced hepatitis. 155 29

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are thought to contribute to viral clearance and liver cell injury during hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Using a strategy involving the in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with HBV-derived synthetic peptides containing HLA-A2.1, -A31, and -Aw68 binding motifs, we have previously described CTL responses to several epitopes within the HBV nucleocapsid and envelope antigens in patients with acute hepatitis. In this study we define six HLA-A2-restricted CTL epitopes located in the highly conserved reverse transcriptase and RNase H domains of the viral polymerase protein, and we show that the CTL response to polymerase is polyclonal, multispecific, and mediated by CD8+ T cells in patients with acute viral hepatitis, but that it is not detectable in patients with chronic HBV infection or uninfected healthy blood donors. Importantly, the peptide-activated CTL recognize target cells that express endogenously synthesized polymerase protein, suggesting that these peptides represent naturally processed viral epitopes. DNA sequence analysis of the viruses in patients who did not respond to peptide stimulation indicated that CTL nonresponsiveness was not due to infection by viral variants that differed in sequences from the synthetic peptides. CTL specific for one of the epitopes were unable to recognize several naturally occurring viral variants, except at high peptide concentration, underlining the HBV subtype specificity of this response. Furthermore, CTL responses against polymerase, core, and envelope epitopes were detectable for more than a year after complete clinical recovery and seroconversion, reflecting either the persistence of trace amounts of virus or the presence of long lived memory CTL in the absence of viral antigen. Finally, we demonstrated that wild type viral DNA and RNA can persist indefinitely, in trace quantities, in the serum and PBMC after complete clinical and serological recovery, despite a concomitant, vigorous, and sustained polyclonal CTL response. Since viral persistence is not due to escape from CTL recognition under these conditions, the data suggest that HBV may retreat into immunologically privileged sites from which it can seed the circulation and reach CTL-inaccessible tissues, thereby maintaining the CTL response in apparently cured individuals and, perhaps, prolonging the liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis.
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PMID:The cytotoxic T lymphocyte response to multiple hepatitis B virus polymerase epitopes during and after acute viral hepatitis. 753 75

The hepatitis B virus is a member of an unusual family of noncytopathogenic, hepatotropic DNA viruses--the hepadnaviruses. The complete virus comprises a lipoprotein coat, the hepatitis B surface antigen, enveloping a nucleocapsid core that contains a small, circular DNA molecule. Four open reading frames have been identified on the hepatitis B virus DNA genome. They encode seven proteins, including a hepatitis B virus DNA polymerase molecule with reverse transcriptase activity. The replication of the virus resembles that of retroviruses and occurs predominantly but not exclusively in hepatocytes. Virus variants involving genomic mutations have been identified. Testing for hepatitis B surface antigen permits detection of many but not all acutely infected patients. Diagnosis of acute infection rests on the identification of IgM antibodies to the hepatitis B core antigen. Antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen appears in serum during the convalescent phase of hepatitis B virus infection. It is the neutralizing, protective antibody largely responsible for immunity to reinfection. In persistent infection hepatitis B surface antigen is present, antibody to hepatitis B core antigen is predominantly an IgG antibody, antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen is not detectable or is present in very low titers and viral replication may be active. Persistent infection leads to an asymptomatic carrier state, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. No specific treatment exists for acute hepatitis B virus infection. Current data indicate that approximately 50% of adults who have chronic infection achieve virologic, biochemical and histologic remission from treatment with alpha-2b-interferon.
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PMID:Hepatitis B today: clinical and diagnostic overview. 832 12

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) stimulate liver regeneration, whereas transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) inhibits it in rats. However their significance in human liver diseases, especially in severe acute liver injury, remains unclear. We studied HGF, TGF-alpha, and TGF-beta 1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the livers of patients with live diseases using a competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. As little as a twofold difference in mRNA expression could be detected from minute liver biopsy samples. We then examined cell proliferation using proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining. HGF mRNA levels were significantly higher (approximately threefold) in acute hepatitis (AH) than in exacerbation of chronic liver disease (EX) (P < .05). TGF-alpha mRNA levels were significantly greater in AH (approximately twofold) than EX (P < .05), and the levels were significantly higher (approximately threefold) in chronic hepatitis (CH) than in EX (P < .05). The TGF-beta 1 mRNA levels in all the groups were not significantly different. In acute liver injury (AH and EX), there was a significant correlation between HGF mRNA expression and the PCNA labeling index (LI) in the liver (r = .87, P < .005). TGF-alpha mRNA expression also correlated with the PCNA LI (r = .92,P < .0001). There was no significant correlation between the serum HGF and the PCNA LI in the liver. In conclusion, HGF and TGF-alpha produced in the liver stimulate hepatocyte proliferation in response to acute liver injury in humans.
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PMID:Expression of hepatocyte growth factor, transforming growth factor alpha, and transforming growth factor beta 1 messenger RNA in various human liver diseases and correlation with hepatocyte proliferation. 869 Apr

The clinical significance and course of acute hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection were studied by measuring HGV RNA and antibody to HGV envelope protein E2 (HGV-E2 antibody). A total of 59 patients with transfusion-associated non-A, non-B hepatitis, who were followed-up for more than 1 year, were selected retrospectively. HGV RNA was measured by reverse transcriptase (RT) and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed, using primer sets, in the 5'-non-coding region of the HGV genome. HGV-E2 antibody was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using recombinant E2 protein. Of the 59 patients, 51 (86%) were infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 12 (20%) were infected with HGV; 11 of the 12 with HGV infection were also infected with HCV. HGV viraemia was cleared during the follow-up period in seven of the 12 patients with HGV infection. All these seven patients seroconverted for HGV-E2 antibody just before or just after the clearance of HGV viraemia. In contrast, all five patients without clearance of HGV viraemia were negative for HGV-E2 antibody (P = 0.0013). Of seven patients with continuous HGV viraemia at 1 year from the onset of acute hepatitis, four with HCV RNA showed chronic elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) but three without HCV RNA did not. The severity of acute hepatitis was similar between patients with both HGV and HCV infections and in those with HCV infection alone. The majority of patients with HGV infection cleared the virus during long-term follow-up. Appearance of HGV-E2 antibody was associated with the clearance of HGV viraemia. An abnormal ALT level was noted to depend on HCV infection but not on HGV infection in both the acute and chronic phases of transfusion-associated hepatitis.
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PMID:Evolution of hepatitis G virus infection and antibody response to envelope protein in patients with transfusion-associated non-A, non-B hepatitis. 965 67

We investigated the possible role of hepatitis G virus (HGV or GBV-C) in the aetiology of acute non-A-E hepatitis in Argentina by detecting viral RNA in sera by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers specific for the putative NS3 helicase region of HGV. Sixty two patients with acute hepatitis were included in this study. The absence of hepatitis A-E was confirmed by serological testing, and all patients were negative for HCV RNA and autoimmune markers. All patients denied alcohol intake and the use of hepatotoxic drugs. Their mean age was 35.3 years and 37 were males. HGV RNA was present in 19/62 (30.6%) of the patients with non-A-E acute hepatitis. Among HGV-positive patients, three had parenteral risk factors within 3 months of onset, one was a health care worker, one was sexually promiscuous, one had travelled to the Middle East and 13 (68.4%) had no history of parenteral exposure. Epidemiological, clinical and biochemical features between HGV-positive and negative patients did not achieve statistical significance. Hence, HGV appears to play a role in the pathogenesis of acute viral hepatitis; however, the etiology of a significant number of hepatitis cases remains unclear, suggesting the existence of an additional agent(s). The absence of parenteral exposure in most of the HGV RNA-positive patients in this study shows that routes of community-acquired HGV infection are not yet completely understood.
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PMID:Detection of hepatitis G virus RNA in patients with acute non-A-E hepatitis. 965 68

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a flavivirus that can cause acute hepatitis and persistent infection but its role in chronic liver disease or primary liver cancer is unproven. In this study we have examined the prevalence of HGV RNA in the serum of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and in patients with cryptogenic chronic liver disease, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and in patients with HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HCC arising in patients with cryptogenic liver disease. One-hundred and thirty patients who were positive for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV), 54 patients with cryptogenic chronic liver disease (including 17 patients with NASH) and 46 patients with hepatitis C-related (n = 27) or cryptogenic liver disease-related HCC (n = 19) were studied. HGV RNA was detected using nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and was found in 16.1% of patients with HCV infection. HGV RNA was not detected in any patient with cryptogenic liver disease. In patients with HCC, 7/34 samples were positive for HGV RNA and six out of seven HGV-positive subjects also had HCV infection. Only one patient with HCC in cryptogenic liver disease was positive for HGV RNA. Hence, cryptogenic liver disease in the UK is not caused by HGV/GBVc infection. It seems unlikely that HGV plays a significant role in hepatocarcinogenesis.
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PMID:Hepatitis G infection: role in cryptogenic chronic liver disease and primary liver cell cancer in the UK. Trent Hepatitis C virus Study Group. 965 69

A 54-yr-old man with lymphoma and serological evidence of prior hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, with detectable anti-HBc and anti-HBs, was treated with intensive chemotherapy. He had reactivation of HBV infection with acute hepatitis B manifest by detectable HBsAg and elevated aminotransferase levels >1000 IU/L. He was treated with lamivudine 150 mg daily and had prompt resolution of acute hepatitis B with return of elevated aminotransferases to normal, and initial loss of HBeAg with later loss of HBsAg. Lamivudine was continued during the course of further chemotherapy as prophylaxis against repeat HBV reactivation. Lamivudine is a nucleoside analogue that is a potent inhibitor of HBV reverse transcriptase and HBV replication. Lamivudine therapy should be considered for the treatment of HBV reactivation and might play a future role as preemptive therapy of HBV reactivation in patients with prior hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis B with inactive viral replication.
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PMID:Lamivudine therapy for chemotherapy-induced reactivation of hepatitis B virus infection. 993 65

The routes of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus transmission are quite similar and coexistence of both viruses in one patient is not a rare phenomenon. Until now, the natural course of liver diseases induced by coinfections has not been well documented and the mechanisms of interaction between the two viruses and the human host have not been fully clarified. We report the case of a patient suffering from chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus who developed an acute hepatitis B virus superinfection. Serum hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid became undetectable by reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction at diagnosis of acute hepatitis B virus infection. At the same time, there was a striking increase in the serum concentrations of the antibodies against C22 and C33c hepatitis C virus antigens. Four months after clinical resolution of the acute hepatitis, hepatitis B surface antigen was undetectable in serum and three months later antibodies against hepatitis B surface antigen appeared. Two years after acute hepatitis B virus infection, the patient has had no relapse of markers for viral replication of hepatitis B virus. Transaminases are within the reference range and hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid is undetectable in both serum and liver tissue. We hypothesize that acute hepatitis B virus infection stimulated a specific humoral response against hepatitis C virus as well as triggering non-specific defense mechanisms which finally eliminated both viruses.
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PMID:Clearance of HCV RNA in a chronic hepatitis C virus-infected patient during acute hepatitis B virus superinfection. 1084 91

We describe an autopsy case of primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma in a 68-year-old man with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis. The patient, who had a history of acute hepatitis 20 years previously, died of a ruptured hepatic tumor. At autopsy, a well-circumscribed 14 x 16 x 15 cm tumor replaced the medial site of the right hepatic lobe with multiple intrahepatic and distant metastases. Histologically the tumor, which had extensive central necrosis, consisted predominantly of well or moderately differentiated spindle-shaped cells, which were positive for smooth muscle actin and vimentin on immunohistochemical staining. In addition, clusters of markedly atypical cells and myxoid change of the matrix were discretely found in the focal and small areas of the tumor. These findings indicated that many sections were necessary for the histologically accurate estimation of primary hepatic smooth muscle tumor. The histological examination of a non-tumorous lesion showed liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis C virus was detected in the cytoplasm of cirrhotic hepatocytes by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, but not in the tumor cells. This suggested that the virus was not directly involved in the development of primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma.
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PMID:Primary hepatic leiomyosarcoma in a patient with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis. 1069 76


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