To evaluate the clinical feasibility of the antibody titer against a chimeric polypeptide (named Core 518), in which a domain of Core and NS3 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was fused, ELISA was performed in a total of 76 serum samples. Each serum was serially diluted using two-fold dilution method with distilled water into 10 concentrations. They were all positive for second generation anti-HCV ass...

The prevalence of HCV infection is high in renal transplantation (RT) patients: 29% in our cohort of 399 RT recipients. The consequences of that infection on the liver have to be carefully assessed. Clinical chronic hepatitis was detected from ALT concentrations (> x 1.5 N) in only 26 patients (22%) with constant (15%) or fluctuating (85%) ALT elevation. Only three of 117 cases developed cirrho...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, designing new and effective therapeutics is of great importance. The aim of the current study was to construct a DNA vaccine containing structural proteins of HCV and evaluation of its expression in a eukaryotic system. METHODS Struct...

The key parameter for diagnosis and management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is HCV RNA. Standardization of HCV RNA assays to IU is mainly based on genotype 1 panels. Little is known about the variability of commercially available HCV RNA assays for quantification of different genotypes. Two real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays (COBAS TaqMan HCV Test for use with the High-Pure...

BACKGROUND Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in tissue injury and fibrogenesis in animal models but little is known regarding their role in hepatitis C virus (HCV) related liver disease in humans. AIMS To characterise the intrahepatic expression pattern of COX-2 and MMPs in chronic HCV infection and determine whether HCV core and NS5A proteins ...

background: successful treatment to eliminate hcv rna depends on the identified genotype. in the present study, we com­pared the frequency of different hcv genotypes, during four years study (2004 till 2008).  methods: sera specimens were received from 16 provinces of iran. we used high pure viral nucleic acid purification kit for extraction and samples were tested with improved form of rt-pcr ...

Dr. Marcia da Suva Cardoso, German Red Cross Blood Bank and, Department of Transfusion , Medicine, University of Ulm, Helmholzstrasse 10, D-89081 Ulm (Germany) Dear Sir, In order to establish the prevalence of HCV infectious patients in the Dialysis Unit of the Board of Dialysis of Transplantation Ulm, we investigated a group of 195 patients by HCV RT/PCR. For this purpose we used a well-establ...

OBJECTIVES Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotyping is important for treatment and epidemiological purposes. The objective was to determine HCV genotype and their associations with certain risk factors at University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). METHODS A total of 89 samples were collected from December 2009 to January 2011. Demographic data of patients were collected from medical rec...

Background and Aims: Hepatitis C virus is one of the viral infections transmitted by blood transfusion. Patients with thalassaemia frequently need blood transfusion and are in danger of HCV infection. In most cases of infection (85%) the virus evades the immune system and establishes a chronic infection that may lead to cirrhosis and liver carcinoma. Liver is the main site of HCV replication ...

We examined the frequency of HCV-RNA in saliva samples from anti-HCV positive patients. Both plasma and saliva samples from 39 HCV patients (13 with normal liver enzymes, 19 with abnormal liver enzymes and 13 with cirrhosis) were investigated. Stimulated saliva and fresh plasma were centrifuged (900 x g,10 min) and stored at -70 degrees C, after the addition of guanidine isothiocyanate RNA extr...