BACKGROUND Toll-like receptor (TLR)3 gene variants may correlate with clinical significance of chronic viral infections including HBV. We aimed to investigate the expression of TLR3 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and liver cells of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and its response to pegylated interferon or nucleoside analogue therapy. METHODS We consecutively enrolled 127 CH...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients display Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9)-dependent defective immune responses. We aimed to study TLR9 expression on CHB patients and its alteration during therapy. METHODS We compared TLR9 expression on fresh peripheral CD14+ monocytes from a cohort of 97 CHB patients and 35 HBsAg-negative, anti-HCV-negative controls, during pegylated interferon or ent...

Cryoglobulinaemic mononeuritis multiplex (MNM) is an extrahepatic manifestation of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection for which interferon-based antiviral therapy is currently the treatment of choice. Rarely MNM can be associated with HCV treatment though generally in the setting of pre-existing cryoglobulinaemia and detectable HCV viraemia. We report an unusual case of de novo MNM occur...

Genotype 5 hepatitis C has been poorly studied despite its worldwide spread. We have analyzed the early kinetics of genotype 5 hepatitis C virus RNA during pegylated interferon/ribavirin treatment in a 59-year-old man with active liver necroinflammatory changes and advanced liver fibrosis. The patient had a high viral load but a small serum level of hepatitis C core antigen. On combination anti...

The development of new direct acting antiviral drugs for the treatment Hepatitis C virus infection, has made it possible to obtain an excellent cure rate and extend indications eradication previously very difficult populations treat like cystic fibrosis, in whom with classic regimens based on pegylated Interferon plus ribavirin could favor worsening lung function. We present a case 41-year-old ...

We report a rare case of severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia triggered by pegylated interferon during combination therapy for chronic HCV. This case demonstrated that interferon can de novo induce autoimmune hemolytic anemia during therapy for chronic hepatitis C in a previously healthy patient.

H C virus (HCV) infects 170 million people worldwide (1). The infection becomes chronic in 85%–90% of cases with potential to cause cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (2). Treatment of HCV infection has evolved significantly over the last 20 years since the introduction of interferon-α in 1991. Initial studies using interferon were disappointing with response...

Agranulocytosis is a life-threatening disorder characterised by a greatly decreased number of circulating neutrophils below 500/μL. This article presents two cases of agranulocytosis in patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin due to chronic hepatitis C. Interferon induced hyperthyroidism, which required the use of a tyreostatic. Anti-thyroid drugs (ATD) used to treat hyperthy...

OBJECTIVES The effects of antiretroviral drugs on the response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin remain uncertain. We evaluated whether antiretroviral drugs affected the response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS We conducted a retrospective analysis of two cohorts of HIV/HCV-co-infected patients treated with pegy...

Native disulfide bonds in therapeutic proteins are crucial for tertiary structure and biological activity and are therefore considered unsuitable for chemical modification. We show that native disulfides in human interferon alpha-2b and in a fragment of an antibody to CD4(+) can be modified by site-specific bisalkylation of the two cysteine sulfur atoms to form a three-carbon PEGylated bridge. ...