OBJECTIVE To study the reliability of serum hyaluronic acid (HA) as a non-invasive method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and its relationship to liver biopsy findings. METHODS In a prospective controlled clinical trial, 48 patients with chronic liver disease were selected from Pediatric Departments, Al-Jedaany and Al-Hayat Hospitals, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from November 2005 to...

conclusions the inhibition of tregs is a novel therapeutic approach to cure chronically hbv infected patients. however, further studies are needed to investigate the safety and efficacy of this approach. results considering the increased levels of regulatory cytokines and also regulatory t cells (tregs) during chb, it seems that these cells are deeply involved in chb infection. the inhibition o...

background il-33 is a novel member of the il-1 family, which has been shown to play an important role in t helper 2 (th2)-associated immune responses. recent studies have suggested a possible role for il-33 in the pathogenesis of liver damage during acute and chronic hepatitis; furthermore, il-33 may be involved in the development and progression of liver fibrosis. objectives to evaluate serum ...

Acute hepatitis A superimposed on chronic liver disease (CLD) has been associated with severe or fulminant hepatitis. An open, multicenter study was performed to compare the safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine in patients with CLD with that in healthy subjects. A secondary objective was to compare the safety of the hepatitis A vaccine with that of a commercial hepati...

autoimmunity and viral infections are closely associated fields, and viruses have been proposed as a likely aetiological, contributory or triggering factors of systemic autoimmune diseases. hepatitis c virus seems to be the virus usually associated with the appearance of autoimmune diseases, and the relationship between chronic hepatitis c virus infection and some autoimmune disease has been st...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether lymph node enlargement in the hepatoduodenal ligament occurs in children with chronic viral hepatitis B and C in comparison to healthy controls. SUBJECT AND METHODS In 49 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (38 with chronic hepatitis B, 11 with chronic hepatitis C, 31 male, 18 female; age range 1 to 17 years), and in 51 healthy controls (25 male, 26 female; age r...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The adverse effect of acute hepatitis A in chronic liver disease is well known. The outcome of acute hepatitis E in chronic liver disease has not been extensively studied. The present study aimed to examine the clinical profile and outcome of patients with chronic liver disease and hepatitis E virus (HEV) superinfection, and the seroprevalence of hepatitis A and E infections...

800x600 hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection is the main cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc). several factors such as serum hbv dna level, genotype and specific viral mutations have been clarified to determine disease progression of chronic hepatitis b. among these, mutations can also occur in chronic hbv patients with antiviral treatment such as lamivudine the...

autoimmune hepatitis is a chronic hepatitis that occurs in children and adults of all ages. diagnosis is based upon characteristic serologic and histologic findings and the exclusion of other forms of chronic liver disease. guidelines issued by the aasld suggest the following diagnostic considerations: the diagnosis should be made in patients with compatible clinical signs, symptoms, and labora...

While several predictors of an early and sustained response can be identified in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, no consistently demonstrable predictors of response exist for chronic hepatitis C. As such, guidelines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C are more complex than those for hepatitis B. The treatment options for chronic hepatitis B and C are outlined and there is speculation...