Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019163 (hepatitis B)
 38,309 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The therapeutic effects of interferon alpha-2b (Intron A; Scherag) in patients with chronic active hepatitis caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) were assessed in a randomised, case-controlled clinical trial conducted between January 1988 and June 1990. Treatment involved a short course of prednisone followed by interferon alpha-2b, initially 10 million U by subcutaneous injection, 3 times a week for 16 weeks. All patients were symptomatic, were known to have had hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in their blood for at least 6 months, and had elevated serum aminotransferase activities with histological evidence of chronic active hepatitis. Patients with carcinoma, renal or haematological abnormalities or decompensated cirrhosis were excluded. In 6 of 10 patients randomised to receive interferon and 1 of 10 controls, HBeAg and HBV DNA were cleared from the blood during the 12-month study period (P < 0.05). An indeterminate response with clearance of HBV DNA but persistence of HBeAg was noted in 1 patient receiving interferon. Serum aminotransferase levels decreased only in those patients who had responded to treatment, but this did not reach statistical significance for the group as a whole. Histological studies, where available, showed decreased hepatic periportal necrosis in patients who underwent treatment. Two patients relapsed to HBeAg-positive status 2 months after their initial seroconversion; 1 became clear again during a repeat course of interferon. Side-effects of treatment were common and included fever, malaise, myalgias and myelosuppression. One patient developed hypothyroidism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Safety and efficacy of interferon alpha-2b following prednisone withdrawal in the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis B. A case-controlled, randomised study. 144 11

269 orthotopic liver transplantations (OLT) were performed in 253 patients at our institution from September 1988 to May 1992. 121 patients had end-stage cirrhosis secondary to viral hepatitis type B, delta, or type non-A non-B and C respectively. Reinfection of the graft by persistent viruses is a potential complication in these cases. Passive immunization with anti-HBs hyperimmunoglobulin (HIg) can prevent clinically relevant reinfection of the graft in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and low replication rates. Patients with high replication rates will rarely benefit from OLT. Patients with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection usually experience HDV reinfection of the graft with subsequent chronic hepatitis although prophylaxis with anti-HBs-HIg was performed. Treatment with interferon alpha had no apparent effect on the incidence of graft reinfection with HBV in this series, but the replication rate of HDV was reduced. Persistent hepatitis C viruses (HCV) usually infect the graft; this was demonstrated in 17 patients by means of the polymerase chain reaction. HCV infection usually causes a mild form of acute hepatitis with transition to a chronic course. Therefore the significance of persistent viral infection lies in the potential for chronic hepatitis in the transplanted organ rather than in the danger of acute injury of the allograft.
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PMID:[Orthotopic liver transplantation in hepatic cirrhosis: on the problem of infection of the transplant with persistent hepatitis viruses]. 144 5

A 39 years old homosexual male suffering from chronic type B hepatitis superinfected by HDV, and positive for anti-HIV1 was treated with zidovudine associated with high doses of recombinant interferon alpha for onset of an extensive cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma. Other than the long-lasting disappearance of Kaposi's lesions, this therapy was followed by complete recovery from hepatitis B and D. Serological and hepatic clearance of both viruses was marked by two successive cytolytic peaks separated by a 9 month interval. The patient's immunologic status has remained stable at 30 months. To our knowledge, such a success had never been reported in the literature and the clearance of both hepatitis B and D viruses in an AIDS patient stands in sharp contrast with the usual rapidly progressive evolution of those triple coinfections. This phenomenon illustrates the potential benefits of zidovudine in association with high dose of interferon alpha in HIV patients suffering from hepatitis D.
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PMID:[Recovery of chronic hepatitis B- delta infection by zidovudine and recombinant interferon alpha combination therapy in a patient with Kaposi's sarcoma associated with HIV infection]. 152 1

At the present time, at least five different forms of viral hepatitis can be distinguished. The hepatitis A and E viruses are transmitted via a fecal-oral route, and are associated with poor hygiene. Hepatitis E is restricted to Central Africa, parts of Asia, and Central America. Hepatitis B, C and D are transmitted not via the fecal-oral route but, in the case of B and D mainly by sexual intercourse, and in the case of hepatitis C by infected blood products. Even after the introduction of interferon alpha, treatment possibilities are limited. Immune prophylaxis (hepatitis A and B) and general preventive measures are of considerable importance, not merely with respect to travelling.
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PMID:[Viral hepatitis as a traveler's disease]. 155 3

Three viruses are responsible for posthepatitic cirrhosis: hepatitis B virus, hepatitis D (also called delta) virus and hepatitis C virus formerly known as non-A, non-B virus. Delta virus is a defective organism which can replicate only when coinfection with hepatitis B virus is present. These three viruses cause chronic active hepatitis which, after a period of 5 to 30 years, gives rise to posthepatitic cirrhosis. Chronic infections with these viruses account for more than 90 p. 100 of chronic active hepatitis in France and constitute a major cause of cirrhosis. Beside complications (hepatocellular insufficiency, portal hypertension, hepatocellular carcinoma) which are common to all types of cirrhosis irrespective of their origin, the course of posthepatitic cirrhosis is characterized by possible episodes of reactivation of chronic hepatitis and by a very high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Two kinds of treatment are now available: antiviral therapy (basically with interferon alpha) and liver transplantation. Antiviral therapy must, of course, be given before the stage of cirrhosis has been reached. Liver transplantation in these patients raises special problems due to recurrence of viral infection in the graft. Vaccination against hepatitis B virus, which also prevents the B-delta coinfection, must be systematic in populations at risk.
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PMID:[Post-hepatitis B, B-D and C cirrhosis]. 190 35

Eleven patients in early stages of chronic active hepatitis B (CAH-B) were treated for weeks or months with a natural or recombinant human interferon alpha (Hu IFN alpha). Changes of serum levels of selected hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers were observed after Hu IFN alpha administration. Increase of HBsAg level accompanied by more or less simultaneous HBeAg level depression was the most interesting observation. These changes were well expressed in 5 reactive patients only; they usually ceased after withdrawal of IFN therapy. Reaction of the remaining 6 patients was either poor or not demonstrable. The possible mechanism for HBsAg/HBeAg serum level changes during the IFN therapy of CAH-B is discussed.
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PMID:Transient increase of HBsAg levels following human IFN alpha treatment signalises the patient's response in chronic active hepatitis B. 198 56

Sixty-four chronic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers with hepatitis B e antibody (anti-HBe) were followed in order to detect reactivations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and to assess the incidence and specificity of hepatitis B e antigen/hepatitis B e antibody (HBeAg/anti-HBe) immune complexes (ICs). In 18 out of 19 patients who suffered an increase in alanine transaminase (ALT) values, serum HBV-DNA reappeared co-occurring with the peak(s) of transaminases. HBeAg/Anti-HBe immune complexes were detected in 17/18 (94.4%) patients positive for HBV-DNA. In nine of them, the appearance of immune complexes co-occurred with prednisone therapy, in two following seroconversion after recombinant interferon alpha-2A treatment, and spontaneously in the remaining seven patients. When ALT levels dropped to normal values, immune complexes as well as HBV-DNA became undetectable. In conclusion, the detection of HBeAg/anti-HBe immune complexes seems to be a specific method to detect HBV replication among anti-HBe positive patients.
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PMID:Detection of HBeAg/anti-HBe immune complexes in the reactivation of hepatitis B virus replication among anti-HBe chronic carriers. 235 57

Alkaline ribonuclease (RNase; EC 3.1.27.5) activities and 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (2-5 AS; no EC no. assigned) activities in serum were measured in nine patients with hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B before, during, and after treatment with recombinant human interferon alpha-2b for four weeks at daily doses ranging from 3 to 10 mega-units. Alkaline RNase activities in serum significantly increased from 65.8 +/- 9.5 units/L (mean +/- SD) to 84.3 +/- 11.9 units/L after the first week of therapy (P less than 0.001). (One unit of RNase activity is defined as that increasing the absorbance at 260 nm by 1.0 in 1 min). This increase persisted during and until two weeks after the end of the therapy, at which time the mean RNase activity in serum was still significantly increased (70.8 +/- 9.4 units/L, P less than 0.01). Before therapy, phosphocellulose chromatography of RNase showed five active peaks of enzyme activity, which were similar to that observed even when RNase activity increased immediately after therapy. There was a close correlation between RNase activities and the logarithm of 2-5 AS activities, measured simultaneously in each patient. We conclude that recombinant alpha-interferon therapy increases RNase activities in serum, associated with the increased 2-5 AS activities.
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PMID:Effects of recombinant leukocyte interferon on ribonuclease activities in serum in chronic hepatitis B. 235 34

Recombinant human interferon alpha 2a as well as natural human interferons alpha and beta significantly suppressed the production of hepatitis B surface antigen by PLC/PRF/5 cells (which have been established from a human primary hepatocellular carcinoma and proven to carry the hepatitis B virus DNA) and inhibited proliferation of these cells in vitro. However, the production of alpha-fetoprotein by PLC/PRF/5 cells was less significantly affected by any of the interferons. These results suggest that these interferons not only suppress cellular proliferation but also selectively inhibit the action of the HBV gene which is persistently present in these cells.
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PMID:Suppression of HBsAg production in PLC/PRF/5 human hepatoma cell line by interferons. 246 37

Hepatitis B virus and the human immunodeficiency virus are similarly transmitted. Individuals with preexisting HIV infection have a higher chance to become HBsAg carriers than do anti-HIV negative persons. Cytotoxic T cells with specificity for HBcAg, that are under the control of HBcAg-specific helper T cells, are responsible for liver injury. There is good evidence that HIV infection lowers inflammatory activity, is associated with milder liver histology, high levels of viral replication and low seroconversion rates. In addition interferon alpha therapy is less effective in anti-HIV positive subjects. The immune response against HBsAg is helper T-cell dependent and vaccination against hepatitis B is of low effectiveness. In addition, vaccination against hepatitis B may activate the HIV disease and is, therefore, presently not to be recommended.
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PMID:Modification of the immune response against hepatitis B virus by the human immunodeficiency virus. 253 81


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