OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy of sequential treatment with lamivudine and interferon-alpha monotherapies in Chinese patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B. METHODS One hundred and sixty-two patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B were included in this study. Ninety-eight were treated with lamivudine alone (100 mg per day) for 48 weeks (group B). ...

Polymyositis is a rare complication of interferon alpha treatment as a result of immune-modulating role of the drug itself. In this case, interferon alpha induced polymyositis and cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in a 33-yr-old male patient with history of chronic hepatitis B. To treat hepatitis B, interferon alpha was administered until the proximal muscle weakness developed. Thereafter, sixteen cy...

BACKGROUND/AIM The prevalence of hepatitis B infection is high worldwide with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma as important complications. Immunosuppression, especially from corticosteroids, is often cited as a cause of poor immune response and there is documented evidence of irrational administration of glucocorticoids to children and adults. Decreased expression of interleukin-4 a...

Both genetic and environmental interactions affect systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) development and pathogenesis. One known genetic factor associated with lupus is a haplotype of the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene. Analysis of global gene expression microarray data using gene set enrichment analysis identified multiple interferon- and inflammation-related gene sets significantly o...

Hepatitis B viruses specifically target the liver, where they efficiently infect quiescent hepatocytes. Here we show that human and avian hepatitis B viruses can be converted into vectors for liver-directed gene transfer. These vectors allow hepatocyte-specific expression of a green fluorescent protein in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, when used to transduce a type I interferon gene, expression o...

This paper presents the preliminary results of a study designed to evaluate the effects of alpha interferon in chronic hepatitis B. After six months' treatment with interferon alfa-2b (5 million units (MU), three times weekly) 15 of 25 (60%) patients achieved seroconversion of hepatitis B e antigen, 17 (68%) normalised alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, and 15 (60%) showed a decrease in t...

Thirty-six children with chronic hepatitis B were entered into a randomized controlled trial of recombinant human interferon-a. All patients had hepatitis B virus DNA and increased levels of aminotransferases in serum for at least 1 yr. Twelve children received 10 MU of interferon-a 2b/m2 body surface area three times a week (group I); 12 children received 5 MU/mZ under the same conditions (gro...

aim : the objective of this study was to estimate the average cost of diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis c among patients based on their treatment regime, during the one course of treatment and six-month after stopping that. background : hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality worldwide and a major public health problem. patients and methods...

When cells become infected with a virus, they mount a coord inated antiviral response, a key component of which is the production of interferons (IFNs). This family of cytokines is present only in vertebrates , and mediates its antiviral effects both directly on infected cells and indirectly by activating other important effectors of the innate immune response, including natural killer cells, d...

Two murine models, C3H 38C13 B-cell lymphoma and AKR SL2 T-cell lymphoma were used to determine the efficacy of three different interferon preparations, recombinant human hybrid interferon-alpha A/D, recombinant murine interferon (rMIFN)-gamma, and natural MIFN-alpha/beta (greater than or equal to 85% beta), alone and in combination with tumor specific and nonspecific monoclonal antibody therap...