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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Chronic infection with hepatitis B viruses (hepadnaviruses) is a major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the incubation time varies from 1 to 2 years to several decades in different host species infected with indigenous viruses. To discern the influence of viral and host factors on the kinetics of induction of HCC, we exploited the recent observation that ground squirrel hepatitis virus (GSHV) is infectious in woodchucks (C. Seeger, P. L. Marion, D. Ganem, and H. E. Varmus, J. Virol. 61:3241-3247, 1987) to compare the pathogenic potential of GSHV and woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) in chronically infected woodchucks. Chronic GSHV infection in woodchucks produces mild to moderate portal hepatitis, similar to that observed in woodchucks chronically infected with WHV. However, HCC developed in GSHV carriers about 18 months later than in WHV carriers. Thus, although both viruses are oncogenic in woodchucks, GSHV and WHV differ in oncogenic determinants that can affect the kinetics of appearance of HCC in chronically infected animals.
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PMID:Woodchuck hepatitis virus is a more efficient oncogenic agent than ground squirrel hepatitis virus in a common host. 200 38

Ground squirrel hepatitis virus (GSHV) is a small DNA virus, structurally and antigenically related to the human hepatitis B virus, which occurs naturally among certain wild populations of ground squirrels (P. L. Marion et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77:2941-2945, 1980). Serum from naturally infected animals was used to transmit GSHV in the laboratory by parenteral inoculation of susceptible squirrels. Sixty percent of recipient animals developed viral surface antigenemia after a latent period of 2 to 3 months; three of these animals have remained viremic for over 9 months. Like hepatitis B virus, GSHV demonstrates marked hepatotropism, with viral DNA detected in significant quantities only in the liver, where an average of 6 X 10(2) to 6 X 10(3) viral DNA molecules per cell were found by molecular hybridization. However, histological signs of liver injury after acute infection are minimal. In contrast to infection of its natural host, parenteral administration of GSHV to rats, mice, guinea pigs, and hamsters did not result in demonstrable antigenemia, suggesting that the host range of GSHV, like that of hepatitis B virus, is narrow.
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PMID:Biological characterization of acute infection with ground squirrel hepatitis virus. 714 70

In 1971, on the basis of the unusual clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of hepatitis B virus, we postulated the existence of a class of viruses that we termed Icrons. An increased understanding of the molecular biology of hepatitis B virus resulted in the discovery, by Summers and his colleagues, of the woodchuck hepatitis virus. This virus is common in the North American woodchuck (Marmota monax) and is associated with primary cancer of the liver in this animal. Subsequently similar viruses were found in Beechey ground squirrels in California by Marion and her coworkers and domesticated (Pekin) ducks from the United States by Mason and his coworkers. In the latter the virus infects the liver and presumably is associated with disease of this organ. The discovery of additional viruses similar to hepatitis B virus in animals other than man and their association with cancer of the liver encourages the continuing search for other virus-cancer associations for which prevention methods might be effective.
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PMID:Viruses similar to hepatitis B virus (Icrons). 733 75

HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection increases HIV and HBV replication, hepatitis flares, and risk of progression to chronic HBV infection, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. HIV and HBV coinfection decreases frequency of hepatitis Be antibody (anti-HBe) and hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) seroconversion, increases risk of antiretroviral therapy-related hepatotoxicity, and reduces efficacy of HBV therapy. All newly diagnosed HIV patients should be screened for hepatitis A, B, and C viruses and vaccinated if not immune to hepatitis A or B viruses. HBV serology often is atypical in coinfection. Diagnosis of HBV coinfection in HIV infection is made on the basis of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive, hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc total)-positive, anti-HBs-positive status. Alanine aminotransferase levels in coinfected patients often are not reliable markers of liver inflammation. HBV infection should always be treated if coinfected patients are receiving antiretroviral therapy, since immune reconstitution under antiretroviral therapy poses risk for immune-associated liver damage in these patients. This article summarizes a presentation on HIV and HBV coinfection made by Marion G. Peters, MD, at an International AIDS Society-USA Continuing Medical Education course in San Francisco in May 2007.
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PMID:Diagnosis and management of hepatitis B virus and HIV coinfection. 1807 52