Cell free hemoglobin (Hb), becomes oxidized in the circulation during hemolytic episodes in sickle cell disease (SCD) or thalassemia and may potentially cause major complications that are damaging to the vascular system. Hemolytic anemias are commonly associated with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and often result from dysfunction of lung endothelial cells. The aim of this study was to determine t...

OBJECTIVES It has been controversial whether or not the emergence of precore mutant HBV is related to the severe form of chronic hepatitis B (CH-B). To further clarify the role of the precore mutant HBV in the natural course of CH-B, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of precore-region sequences according to the biochemical severity along with seroconversion to anti-HBe in patients with CH-B....

BACKGROUND Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes complicated biochemical, immunological and histological changes in host immune response against the virus which can be specific or non-specific. Recent attention has focused on neopterin as a marker for the activation of cell mediated immunity. The aim of this study was to define the pattern of neopterin levels in replicative and nonreplica...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has eight genotypes which have distinct geographical distributions. Studies comparing differences in the clinical outcomes of infections caused by strains with genotype-related variations in the HBV genome have largely compared genotypes B and C and genotypes A and D but not all four genotypes. The present study included 196 HBV-infected patients attending an infectious ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are a global public health problem. Chronic hepatitis (CHB) infection is associated with an increased risk of cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In virus-infected liver cells, HBsAg produced in excess secreted into the blood, where it serves as marker for active infectivity. Currently, recombinant used HBV vaccination, develo...

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Chronicity or seroclearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens is determined by the host immune responses. Current approaches to treat HBV patients are based on inhibition replication using different antivirals (nucleoside nucleotide analogs) as monotherapy, along with modulators combination therapy being used worldwide for reducing viral load....

OBJECTIVE To determine markers of HBV infection and detect the presence of its occult infection in serum of a cohort of adult Nigerians. METHODOLOGY The study involved 28 adult Nigerians with viral hepatitis (Group 1) and 28 apparently healthy adult Nigerians as controls (Group 2). Their sera were assayed for HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV, while HBV DNA was determin...

INTRODUCTION Entecavir (ETV) is a potent inhibitor of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. In patients adherent to treatment, virologic remission rates of > 95 % can be maintained with entecavir at 3-5 years. AIM AND METHODS A cohort study was performed, including all subjects who received ETV for chronic hepatitis B, in the South- Eastern Romania. We assessed viral response, HBeAg loss and s...

To identify and understand early events in lung carcinogenesis, we used a cDNA array to screen for genes that are expressed differentially in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells and a tumorigenic cell line (1170-I) derived from immortalized HBE cells after exposure to cigarette smoke condensate in vivo. Among these genes, we have identified the S100A2 gene, which encodes a nuclear ca...