Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, inflammatory disease characterized by demyelination and axonal degeneration in the central nervous system. MS is the second major cause of disability following trauma, and is mostly seen between the ages of 20 - 40 years and in women. Autoimmune hepatitis (AH) is a chronic disease characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, high levels of transaminases, pr...

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming a world-wide public health problem. NAFLD represents a spectrum of disease ranging from "simple steatosis", which is considered relatively benign, to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and to NAFLD-associated cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. The etiology of NAFLD and its progression is complex and remains incompletely understood. The ...

Eastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are the most prevalent regions. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major risk factor. In some geographic areas (e.g. Asia, Southern Africa), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is also considered to be a significant etiologic factor. Exposure to dietary AFB1 and chronic HBV infection are synergistic risk factors in chinese areas of high-HCC incidence. HCC is also a late complicati...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis C virus infection associated with contaminated anti-D immunoglobulin has become an issue of recent concern. The clinical course of chronic hepatitis C infection is unpredictable and histological assessment is felt to be the most reliable means of assessing disease status. Semiquantitative scoring systems have been devised, which assess degree of necroinflammatory di...

Serum levels of liver enzymes, such as alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and α-fetoprotein, provide insight into liver function and are used during treatment of liver disease, but such information is limited. In the case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is often not detected until an advanced stage, more sensitive biomarkers may help to achieve earlier detection. Serum also ...

Although initially identified as a calcium homeostatic hormone, vitamin D is now known to have pleiotropic functions, dealing with both innate and adaptative immunity. Calcitriol mediates its biological effects by binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), which is expressed not only by intestine, bone and kidney but also on cell membranes of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, dendritic cells and macr...

BACKGROUND Hepatic steatosis is commonly observed in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Many studies indicate a relationship between steatosis and fibrosis progression. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of hepatic steatosis and related factors in Iranian CHC patients. METHODS One hundred and fifteen consecutive patients with CHC were enrolled which were treatment- naïv...

The diagnostic phenotype of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)--in particular, the most significant form in terms of prognosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)--continues to rely on liver tissue evaluation, in spite of remarkable advances in non-invasive algorithms developed from serum-based tests and imaging-based or sonographically-based tests for fibrosis or liver stiffness. The mo...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY: Chronic HCV is a major cause of HCC development. Caspase Recruitment Domains (CARD) is protein modules that regulate apoptosis and play an important role in various carcinogenesis processes, our aim is to assess the possible role of CARD9, CARD10 and Caspase only protein (COP) in progression of liver fibrosis and pathogenesis of HCC in Egyptian...