Hepatitis C New Drug Research And Liver Health
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  • Understanding Hepatitis C
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    • A 20-year cohort study on the natural history of untreated HCV infection
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    • NIH scientists identify likely predictors of hepatitis C severity
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    • HCV infections transmitted via a clinical setting
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  • Your Liver Functions
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  • Chronic HCV Symptoms
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    • Liver Disease: Bone Loss "It Ain't Like Menopause!"
  • HCV Neuropsychiatric symptoms-“brain fog”
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    • The Brain on Fire: Inflammation and Depression
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    • Prevalence of fibromyalgia among patients with chronic hepatitis C
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  • Chronic hepatitis C: Treat or wait?
    • Preparing For Treatment>
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  • Hepatitis C advanced fibrosis: Treat or Wait
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  • HCV Treatment Failure Can Still Mean Less Liver Inflammation
  • Protease inhibitors geno-1:New standard of care
    • Treating HCV Genotype 1 In The Real World
    • 2012 - Direct acting antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C
    • HCV:End of the Beginning-Possibly-Beginning of the End
    • Patients’ Expectations About New HCV Direct-Acting Antivirals Often Unrealistic
    • What Are NS5A inhibitors ?
    • Hepatitis C Treatment Nonresponders
    • New 2011 AASLD guidelines for treating HCV
    • Treating New and Old Therapies>
      • High-grade liver inflammation may predict treatment response
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  • 2012 Future Prospects-Treatment of HCV
    • Advances in the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.
  • Boceprevir & Telaprevir
    • FDA Telaprevir/Boceprevir Transcript
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  • 2013 News/Incivek (Telaprevir)
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        • Dry Mouth (Xerostomia)
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      • Peginterferon alfa-2a Drug Interactions
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  • Genotypes/Treatment
    • Treatment Duration in Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 2/3-infected Patients
    • Impact of IL28B on Liver Histopathology in HCV Genotype 2/3
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      • How to optimize HCV therapy in genotype 4 patients
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    • (HCV) genotypes in the severity of liver disease
  • What Is The IL28B gene ?
    • Hepatitis C Test:Likelihood of achieving SVR>
      • IL28B and HCV immune responses
  • Index-Current Hepatitis C Drugs In Development
  • 2013-Interferon Free Combinations
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  • 2013 Sofosbuvir (GS-7977)
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  • Sofosbuvir (GS-7977)/Ledipasvir (GS-5885)
  • GS-5885, an NS5A Inhibitor
  • ABT-450/r, ABT-267, ABT-333
  • Faldaprevir (BI 201335) and BI 207127 Interferon-Free
    • NS3/4A protease inhibitor BI201335
  • Miravirsen First MicroRNA-Targeted Drug
  • BMS-790052 (Daclatasvir)
  • Daclatasvir/VX135
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  • (TMC435) Simeprevir
  • TMC435 monotherapy in HCV genotypes 2-6
  • Simeprevir (TMC435) and TMC647055
  • Simeprevir,TMC647055 and IDX719
  • TMC435-daclatasvir-BMS-790052
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  • Mericitabine- Polymerase Nuc
  • Sovaprevir (Formerly ACH-1625)
  • ACH-3102 NS5A inhibitor
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    • Idenix IDX184-Hepatitis C drug
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  • Women's Health; Treating Hepatitis C
    • Early Menopause and Response to HCV Treatment
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    • 2012 Hepatitis C infection in children
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    • Study-long-term safety/durability of virologic response in paediatric patients who were previously treated w-interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin for 48 weeks
  • Liver Disease in Elderly Patients
  • Dental considerations in patients with liver disease
    • HCV: Dental management-Diagnosis of extrahepatic manifestations>
      • Dental problems delaying the initiation of interferon
  • Fibrosis
    • Is there a natural way to improve liver fibrosis ?
  • 2013 News/Fibrosis
    • News: Fibrosis
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      • Touching some firm ground in the epidemiology of NASH
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2012 Hepatitis C Research - Full Text Articles

Related -Archives 2011

December 2012
HCV  Antiviral Treatment Uptake in Community Settings

Hepatitis C Virus in American Indian/Alaskan Native and Aboriginal Peoples of North America

Predictors of Response to Chronic Hepatitis C Treatment

Accessing  Hepatitis C Patients Who Are Difficult to Reach
Journal of Viral Hepatitis,    December 14, 2012 

HCV Barriers to Care & Treatment, New Study - Hepatitis C treatment and SVR: the gap between clinical trials and real-world treatment aspirations

The Liver as a Target Organ for Gene Therapy: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future

Genetic and epigenetic variants influencing the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The High Comorbidity Burden of the Hepatitis C Virus Infected Population in the United States

Full Text - Thyroid Disease in Chronic Hepatitis C Infection Treated with Combination Interferon-α and Ribavirin: Management Strategies and Future Perspective.

Projected future increase in aging HCV-infected liver transplant candidates: A potential effect of HCC    -

The High  Comorbidity Burden of the Hep C Infected Population

63rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for  the Study of Liver Diseases
Boston, MA Nov 9-12 2012

The Impact of Hepatitis A Virus Infection on Hepatitis C Virus Infection: A Competitive Exclusion Hypothesis

November 15 2012
Treatment for Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Adults

Top topics in HCV research arena

Hepatitis C in the DAA era during the current economic crisis: Whom to treat? How to treat? When to treat?

Chronic HCV infection: epidemiological and clinical relevance

Towards HCV extinction with modern HCV treatment? “Yes we can!”

Molecular diagnostic and predictive tests in the evolution of chronic hepatitis C anti-viral therapies

BMC Infectious Diseases-
Proceedings of the Second Workshop of the Regional Study Group on HCV in the
Calabria Region (Southern Italy). The virus-host-therapy pathway in HCV disease
management: from bench to bedside in the era of Directly Acting Antivirals


Current progress in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Natural history and clinical response: “It’s the virus, stupid, or is it the host?”

November 10 2012
Genomics and HCV infection: Progression of fibrosis and treatment response

Efficacy and safety of ribavirin plus pegylated interferon alfa in geriatric patients with chronic hepatitis C

November 2012
Hepatitis C virus infection and diabetes: Not a straightforward relationship

Insulin resistance predicts SVR to treatment of chronic hepatitis C independently of the IL28b rs12979860 polymorphism
A New Molecular Approach to Antiviral Treatment for Hepatitis C

New agents for the treatment of hepatitis C – focus on telaprevir

Hepatitis C virus infection and autoimmune diseases

Genomic determinants of hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy  outcomes: toward individualized treatment

Greater Celandine  hepatotoxicity: a clinical review

Dorsal  root ganglionopathy in a hepatitis C patient: a case report

Increased  mortality in chronic HCV infection

Alcohol effects on liver diseases: good or bad buddy?

Splenectomy in cirrhosis with hypersplenism: improvement in  cytopenias, child’s status and institution of
specific treatment for hepatitis C  with success


Validation and comparison of simple noninvasive models for the  prediction of liver
fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C


IL28B  polymorphisms predict the response to chronic hepatitis C virus infection 
treatment in a Mexican population


HEPATOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS

October 2012
Perspectives  and challenges of interferon-free therapy for chronic hepatitis C

Treatment of experienced and naïve patients with hepatitis C: focus on telaprevir

Hepatitis C virus: a critical appraisal of new approaches to therapy

Of Interest - Setbacks in HCV Drug Development Highlight Uncertainties in Treat or Wait Decisions

Autoimmune thyroiditis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus during IFN-alpha therapy

New  Meta-Analysis Study: Antiviral therapy for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C

Special Issue: Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Poster - "Fatigue, Cognitive Function, and Sleep Quality in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Of Interest- New HCV drugs in development - Highlights  Of The EASL-AASLD Special Conference

Sept 2012
An Exploration of Depressive Symptoms in Hepatitis C Patients Taking Interferon-alpha: Increase in Sickness Behaviors but not Negative Cognitions

Boceprevir and personalized medicine in hepatitis C virus infection

Protease Inhibitors - Maximizing Treatment Benefit in HCV
Subjects with advanced fibrosis should be prioritised for triple therapy on the basis of need. Treatment should be continued regardless of initial interferon response to maximise the early prevention of hepatitis C virus-related mortality.

Serum MicroRNA-122 Predicts Survival in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Weight loss during cirrhosis is related to the etiology of liver disease.
Malnutrition is widely described in patients waiting for liver transplantation (LTx). However, risk factors associated with weight loss during liver disease have not yet been well studied

Test of IL28B Polymorphisms in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Treated with PegIFN and Ribavirin Depends on HCV Genotypes
Polymorphisms of rs12979860 and rs8099917 near IL28B only associate with the treatment response to PegIFN/RBV in patients infected with HCV genotype 1 or 4 but not with genotype 2 or 3, irrespective of the previous treatment history or
HIV co-infected status. Therefore, identification of IL28B genotypes is necessary only in patients infected with relatively difficult-to-treat genotype 1 or 4 HCV.

Jnl of Hepatology Article In Press, corrected proof - Fatigue before, during and after antiviral therapy of chronic hepatitis C: Results from the Virahep-C study

HBV vs HCV Infection on Viral Hepatitis-Associated HCC
Significant clinical-pathologic differences exist among HCC patients with underlying HBV vs. HCV. These differences impact eligibility for potentially-curative therapy and prognosis.

Withdrawing interferon-α from psychiatric patients: clinical care or unjustifiable stigma?
Unfortunately, the use of IFN-α is associated with numerous side-effects, both medical and neuropsychiatric. Among the first, there are flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, malaise, tachycardia, headache, arthralgias and myalgias, occurring in more than 30% of patients, usually at the beginning of the therapy. Neuropsychiatric side-effects are also common, and there are reports of a variety of symptoms, including depressive syndromes, manic and psychotic episodes, and delirium.

IP-10 Can Be Measured in Dried Plasma Spots in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection
The chemokine IP-10 (CXCL10) is a candidate marker for hepatitis C virus (HCV) fibrosis monitoring.
The aim of this proof-of-concept study is to assess if IP-10 measurements from dried plasma spots (DPS) are accurate in HCV-infected patients with either minimal or significant fibrosis.

Despite poor interferon response in advanced hepatitis C virus infection, models of protease inhibitor treatment predict maximum treatment benefit
Combination Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C Toxic for Cardiac Function?
Severity of Fibrosis in Women with Hepatitis C
Association of  interferon-alpha and ribavirin-induced thyroid dysfunction with severity of  disease and response to treatment in pakistani asian patients of chronic hepatitis C  (download or open PDF file once prompted after clicking on link)
Directly acting antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: Unresolved topics from registration trials

CONTENTS September-October, Vol. 11 No. 5, 2012
View more @ Ann Hepatol 2012; 11 (5)

Silybin/Silymarin treatment in chronic hepatitis C
Serum  cystatin C: a non-invasive marker of liver fibrosis or of current liver  fibrogenesis in chronic hepatitis C? 
Natural  history of hepatitis C virus infection in a cohort of asymptomatic  post-transfused subjects
A  clinical survey of bleeding, thrombosis, and blood product use in decompensated  cirrhosis patients
Role of  nitric oxide in liver  regeneration

Aug 2012
Article-Hepatitis Testing Saves Lives: CDC HCV Risk Assessment  

Relationship between vitamin D and IL-23, IL-17 and macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 as markers of fibrosis in hepatitis C virus Egyptians 

Effect on HCV Replication by Combinations of Direct Acting Antivirals Including NS5A Inhibitor Daclatasvir 
 
A comparison of survival and pathologic features of  non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatitis C virus patients with
hepatocellular  carcinoma

Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, Kris P Croome, Martin Drage, Nathalie Sela, Jeremy Parfitt, Natasha Chandok, Paul Marotta, Cheryl Dale,  William Wall and Douglas Quan.World J  Gastroenterol 18(31):4145-4149.
Published online  2012 August 21. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i31.4145. 
| Abstract( 4) | Full Text( 34) | PDF-698K(  30) |

Efficacy and tolerability of hepatitis C combination therapy in elderly patients

New  Therapies Against HCV:
Expected Risks and challenges  Associated  with their use in the Liver Transplant  Setting

Given the importance of viral clearance in the pre  and post  transplant setting such results have been thought to be
somewhat  unsatisfactory and the liver transplant  community has been eagerly awaiting new  anti- HCV therapies.

Hepatitis C Peg/Riba Therapy: With versus Without Fluvastatin-An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Study

Of Interest
2012 EASL-Three Hepatology experts comment on hepatitis C abstracts

Managing Diabetes in Patients with Chronic Liver  Disease

Characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis C who develop hepatocellular carcinoma

High-dose Silibinin Rescue Treatment for HCV-infected Patients Showing Suboptimal Virologic Response to Standard Combination Therapy

Review of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Chronic Hepatitis C

Glucose Abnormalities in Pre-diabetic Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Receiving Peginterferon Plus Ribavirin Therapy

New developments in the management of hepatitis C virus infection: focus on boceprevir
Download Full Text

July 2012
 Digital Liver Disease Journal - "Clinical Liver Disease" Third Issue Is Out
July - Volume 1, Issue  3  Pages 63–97
The journal is an official digital educational resource from the American Association for the Study of Liver
Diseases.
Visitors are able to view videos, full text articles, and download files in either HTML or PDF formats

Articles Of Interest

Hepatitis C Drug Development Goes from Pony Ride to Rocket Launch.
The in depth report includes some of the following topics; HCV drug resistance, DAA drug-drug interactions,
nucleosides and nucleotide polymerase inhibitors, HCV protease inhibitors, the next generation of drugs, HCV quad therapy, SVR-4 ,SVR-12, interferon free therapy, ABT-450/r, ACH-1625, BI 201335, bms-650032, bms-790052, Danoprevir,
genotypes 1-4, GS-7977 Formally/PSI-7977, GS-9256, Lambda, MK-7009, TMC435 and much more....

Hepatitis C may increase deaths from both liver-related and other diseases
In a long-term study of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), researchers found increased deaths from both liver-related and non-liver related diseases in patients with active infections who had not cleared their infection.

Full Text Articles

Inauspicious Contribution of Hepatitis C Virus and Diabetes Mellitus Targeting Kidneys
An Update
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and diabetes mellitus are frequent problems worldwide that induce high health and financial burden in different societies, both of which are also highly prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Diabetes mellitus is a known underlying cause of end-stage renal disease, and on the other hand, HCV is responsible for a wide variety of renal manifestations, such as membranous nephropathy,  cryoglobulinemia, and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Moreover, along with its direct impact on kidney damage, HCV is also known to play a role in progression of other causes of kidney diseases. 

It is known that HCV infection is highly prevalent among patients with diabetic nephropathy. This article reviews the existing
literature on the relationship between HCV infection and diabetes mellitus in patients with chronic kidney disease, and also overviews the interplay of these two factors in the transplantation era.....

Escitalopram for the Prevention of Peginterferon-α2a–Associated Depression in Hepatitis C Virus
Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus, or HCV, are commonly treated with pegylated interferon-a combined with antiviral agents. Up to 70 percent of HCV patients treated with interferon-a will experience mild to moderate depressive
symptoms, and up to 40 percent have major depression. Preventing depression in these patients is imperative because it can derail treatment adherence and effectiveness, and suicide attempts also become a major concern. Researchers
sought to determine if prophylactic escitalopram treatment can decrease the incidence or severity of depression associated with interferon-a treatment.

The researchers randomly assigned 181 HCV-infected patients with no history of psychiatric disorders to either escitalopram 10 mg/d (n=90) or placebo (n=91) starting two weeks before and continuing for 24 to 48 weeks during antiviral
therapy. They found that preemptive treatment with escitalopram is effective in reducing the incidence and severity of depressive symptoms in this patient population. According to the authors, this research has implications for other
patients, as interferon-a has current or future indications in gastroenterology, dermatology, and oncology, as well....

Basic Answers to Complicated Questions for the Course of Chronic Hepatitis C Treatment
Necati Örmeci; Hakan Erdem
Authors and Disclosures
Posted: 07/19/2012; Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol.
2012;6(3):371-382. © 2012 Expert Reviews Ltd.

Abstract Only

View Full Text @ Medscape
*Free Registration Required

Abstract
Hepatitis C virus infection is a long-lasting disease, which causes chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, thus leading to liver-related death. Currently, the optimal treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection is the combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The aim of this review is to assess the long-term clinical outcomes of interferons alone or in combination with ribavirin in the management of chronic hepatitis C...

Assessment of Factors Associated With Pre-diabetes in HCV Infection Including Direct and Dynamic Measurements of Insulin Action
N. A. Mukhtar; C. Ayala; J. J. Maher; M. Khalili
View full text @ Medscape

Can zinc enhance response interferon therapy for patients with HCV-related liver disease?
Patients with liver disease may be at risk of zinc depletion. Zinc supplementation has been shown to contribute to inhibition of liver fibrosis and improvement in hepatic encephalopathy. However, little is known about the anti-inflammatory effect of zinc on hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic liver disease

Assessing Long-Term Treatment Efficacy in Chronic Hepatitis B and C: Between Evidence and Common Sense
HBV and HCV are characterized by peculiar biological and clinical characteristics, but probably the most important difference between these viruses is that HCV can be eradicated, while HBV remains detectable in the liver either integrated into the host DNA or as covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), the template for transcription of viral RNA [4,5]. For this reason any  anti-HCV regimen is aimed at persistent viral eradication, while anti-HBV regimens are aimed at sustained suppression of viral replication.....

Adherence to Hepatitis C Treatment Interventions: A Comparative Effectiveness Review
We identified 11 studies—including five RCTs and six cohort studies—that addressed the comparative effectiveness of adherence interventions on health outcomes, surrogate markers, and patient adherence in hepatitis-C patients treated with
the standard dual combination viral therapy. This existing body of literature, however, had substantial methodological and clinical heterogeneity. 

Treatment of Patients With HCV Related Cirrhosis: Many Rewards With Very Few Risks
Antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is aimed at the persistent eradication of the virus, the so-called sustained virological response (SVR), with the aim ultimately being to prevent the development of liver-related complications and improve patients’ survival. Patients with HCV-related compensated cirrhosis are the group most likely to benefit from viral clearance, as several retrospective studies have shown liver complications rates to be positively modified by the achievement of a SVR.

Long-term health outcomes of chronic hepatitis C patients: A review of findings  from REVEAL-HCV cohort study
In this review article, we describe the study population, enrollment and follow-up procedures, recent findings and future perspectives of Risk Elevation of Viral Load Elevation and Associated Liver Disease/Cancer in HCV (R.E.V.E.A.L.-HCV) study.

The Risk Elevation of Viral Load Elevation and Associated Liver Disease/Cancer in HCV (R.E.V.E.A.L.-HCV) study has followed a cohort of 1095 residents seropositive for antibodies against hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) lived in seven townships in Taiwan for fifteen years.

These anti-HCV seropositives were asymptomatic and relatively healthy than chronic hepatitis C patients cared in clinics and hospitals. Most of them acquired HCV infection through iatrogenic transmission routes in study townships. The epidemiological characteristics of HCV infection were very similar to those in countries with high prevalence such  as Japan, Korea, Italy and India.

As the participants in the R.E.V.E.A.L.-HCV study rarely received antiviral therapies, it provided an exceptional
opportunity to study the natural history of chronic HCV infection.

In this review article, we describe the details of participant enrollment, laboratory tests, follow-up procedures, and major recent findings. Anti-HCV seropositives  with elevated serum HCV RNA levels were found to have an increasing risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma in a dose-response relationship. In addition to the serum HCV RNA level, serum alanine aminotransferase levels and HCV genotype also had long-term predictability for the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Moreover, anti-HCV seropositives with detectable serum HCV RNA levels had an increased mortality from extrahepatic diseases such as cerebrovascular and renal diseases.

Our study revealed anti-HCV seropositives with detectable serum HCV RNA levels had an increased risk of hepatic and extrahepatic diseases. A long-term follow-up cohort may help evaluate the incidence and mortality of various diseases associated with chronic HCV infection...

H. Pylori in HCV-related Chronic Hepatitis and Cirrhosis
What does the latest research tell us about the connection between H. pylori disease and the potential to develop HCV-related
chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma? This new study looks at the possible link.

PloS ONE- Vitamin D Metabolism in the Response to Interferon-Alfa-Based Therapy of Chronic Hepatitis C

June 2012

HCV-Related Nervous System Disorders
More than half of patients with chronic HCV infection complain of “brain
fog” (fatigue, impaired concentration, and poor memory) and have a reduced
quality of life, regardless of the severity of liver involvement or virus
replication rate. Fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and mood alterations display a
profound effect on social and physical functioning, thus further impacting
health-related quality of life (HRQL).

Treating Hepatitis C Current Standard of Care and Emerging Direct-acting Antiviral Agents
At the present time, chronic hepatitis C is the only chronic viral infection that can be cured with antiviral therapy. Unlike HIV or hepatitis B (HBV), HCV nucleic acids are not integrated into the host genome, nor is there a viral latency phase. Although prevention of infection should be a primary goal, no HCV vaccine is available. Therefore, the aim of the current anti-HCV approaches is to cure the infection to prevent HCV-related complications and potential spread to others.

The standard of care for the past decade and the comparator with newer therapies is a combination of pegylated interferon (PegIFN) plus ribavirin (RBV). Standard interferon was approved for HCV treatment in 1990; it represented a significant advance since up to then there was no treatment available, but the sustained virologic response (SVR) was <10% in patients with HCV genotype 1...

Identification  and analysis of hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase inhibitors using nucleic acid  binding assays.
Mukherjee S, Hanson AM, Shadrick WR,  et  alNucleic Acids
Res
.  2012 Jun 27

Impact of ribavirin dose on retreatment of chronic hepatitis C patients
Retreatment of CHC patients who have failed prior antiviral therapy is an important clinical issue. Our study evaluated the efficacy of retreatment of CHC patients who relapsed after combination therapy with PEG-IFN plus RBV. The overall SVR rate achieved was 42%.

An important point of our study is the inclusion of a homogeneous population of prior relapsers to the PEGIFN-α plus RBV combination therapy. Most previous studies analyzed the efficacy of retreatment with PEG IFN plus RBV based on groups composed mainly of patients who failed conventional IFN-based therapy without distinguishing between non-responders and relapsers,or between monotherapy and combination therapy.... 

Viral Hepatitis in the Elderly
As life expectancy continues to rise, elderly adults represent a rapidly growing proportion of the population. The likelihood of complications of acute and chronic liver disease and overall mortality are higher in elderly populations.
Several physiological changes associated with aging, greater prevalence of co-morbid conditions, and cumulative exposure to hepatotropic viruses and environmental hepatotoxins may contribute to worse outcomes of viral hepatitis in the elderly. Although pharmacotherapy for hepatitis B and C continues to evolve, the efficacy, tolerability, and side effects of these agents have not been studied extensively in elderly adults. Immunization against hepatitis A and B in naïve elderly adults is an important public health intervention that needs to be revised and broadened....

 Editorial - Hepatitis C, insulin resistance and fatty liver: Bad things come in threes
In an editorial published in the June issue of The Canadian Journal Of Gastroenterology researchers looked at hepatitis C, insulin resistance and fatty liver.  In the paper authors concluded that insulin resistance and fatty liver seen in HCV was
not genotype dependent, with negative outcomes seen across all genotypes, including genotype 4.
Read the editorial here...

Recent  Successes and  Noteworthy Future Prospects in the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C
The advent of interferon-free regimens would represent the fulfillment of an  enormous unmet need in interferon-incapable
or-intolerant patients, but many  experts are predicting and hoping that such regimens will ultimately supplant  interferon-based therapy for most or all HCV patients, perhaps sooner than any  would have anticipated a  short time ago.

New perspectives in occult (hidden) hepatitis C virus infection

Transaminiti After Interferon-Ribavirin Therapy in HIV/HCV
Journal of Viral Hepatitis,    June 21, 2012  

Viral Hepatitis Associated With Healthcare Delivery
Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report,    June 18,  2012 

Patient Time Costs and Out-of-pocket Costs in Hepatitis C
Liver International,    June 14, 2012

Prediction of  response to pegylated-interferon-¿ and ribavirin therapy in Chinese patients  infected with different hepatitis C virus genotype.
Guo X, Zhao Z, Xie  J, et ak Virol  J. 2012 Jun 19;9(1):123.

Global Burden of Hepatitis C: Considerations for Healthcare Providers in the United States
Hepatitis C continues to cause substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide, and transmission continues unabated in
many countries.
Control of HCV infection requires a comprehensive approach that incorporates primary prevention of transmission through enhanced infection control and injection safety in healthcare settings and in the community, universal screening of blood and blood products, harm reduction programs, and increased public awareness about risk factors for HCV infection. For the 130-170 million persons already infected, newer, more effective therapies are available.
However, lack of access to screening, care, and treatment limit the use of these therapies for most persons living with HCV infection globally, and deaths from preventable cirrhosis and liver cancer continue to increase. Governments need to
address viral hepatitis comprehensively by improving surveillance, prevention, care, and treatment. In the United States, healthcare providers must be cognizant of the global burden and epidemiology of HCV infection and follow current screening care and treatment recommendations. In addition, they should consider screening foreign-born patients as appropriate, particularly those from  countries where HCV infection is highly endemic, who may not have recognized  risk factors for HCV infection
...Continue reading...

Full Text-Hepatitis B vs. hepatitis C associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatitis C Virus and the Infectious Diseases Community 
It is a perfect storm for the chronic viral infection associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality in the United States. Of
the ≥3 million Americans infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), only ≤50% know they are infected.
Infections acquired many years ago from parenteral exposures-injection drug use, transfusions received before screening assay availability (in 1992), or other healthcare exposures-have either no or nonspecific (but highly prevalent) symptoms, such as fatigue, arthritis, and depression. Clinicians tend to discount the extrahepatic effects of HCV infection, although HCV has been associated with diabetes and other serious morbidities.

Now, after latencies of 20-30 years, there are rapidly increasing cases of cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and early deaths in the Baby Boom generation. The traditional bulwark for viral hepatitis care has been a small number of board-certified hepatologists-only about 2000-who are now overwhelmed.

Although many never studied HCV in medical school, infectious disease and general clinicians are being called on for
diagnosis and care for a rapidly increasing number of patients
. In conjunction with World Hepatitis Day (28 July), this is an appropriate time to provide an overview of where we are and the immediate future for control and treatment of the HCV epidemic.
Continue reading............

Depression Induced by Interferon Therapy

Interferon responses and spontaneous HCV clearance: Is it all a matter of fat?

Reversibility of liver fibrosis

Metabolic Disorders and Steatosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: Metabolic Strategies for Antiviral Treatments

Patient Time Costs and Out-of-pocket Costs in Hepatitis 

MicroRNAs and hepatitis C virus: Toward the end of miR-122 supremacy

Consumption of n-3 Fatty Acids and Fish Reduces Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

May 2012

A special supplementary issue of  Gastroenterology with full text viral hepatitis review articles and commentaries are available through open access.
Click here to view an index of articles.

A Few Topics Include;
Maximizing Opportunities and Avoiding Mistakes in Triple  
Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus Recently developed drugs and innovative
strategies for the treatment of chronic infection with genotype 1 hepatitis C 
virus (HCV) have become the standard of care. The protease inhibitors telaprevir 
(Incivek) and boceprevir (Victrelis) are the first...

Will  Interferon-Free Regimens Prevail?
Many promising small molecule inhibitors  directed against hepatitis C virus (HCV)
proteins (direct-acting antiviral [DAA]   agents) and compounds targeting host cell
factors (host-targeting agents  [HTAs])  are currently in the drug development and...

April 2012
New Therapies for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection

Hepatitis C Viral Evolution in Genotype 1 Treatment-Naïve and Treatment-Experienced Patients Receiving Telaprevir-Based Therapy in Clinical Trials

Spirulina platensis versus silymarin in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. A pilot randomized, comparative clinical  trial

DAA Update

Updated AASLD HCV Guideline Aims To Simplify Use of  DAAs

Medivir Announces Final Results from TMC435 Phase IIb ASPIRE (C206) Study

Review Articles - Liver International
Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an  issue)

Hepatitis C,  porphyria cutanea tarda and  liver iron: an update
F. Ryan Caballes, Hossein Sendi and Herbert L. Bonkovsky
Article first published online: 17 APR 2012 | DOI:
  10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02794.x

Natural history of chronic hepatitis B: what exactly has REVEAL  Revealed?
Uchenna H Iloeje, Hwai-I Yang and Chien-Jen Chen
Article first published online: 17 APR 2012 | DOI:
  10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02805.x

HIV-HCV  co-infection facing HCV protease  inhibitor licensing: implications for  clinicians
Patrick Ingiliz and Jürgen K. Rockstroh
Article first published online: 17 APR 2012 | DOI:
  10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02796.x

Current  limits and future challenges in the management of renal dysfunction in patients  with cirrhosis: report from the
International Club of Ascites
Paolo Angeli, Arun Sanyal, Soren Moller, Carlo Alessandria, Adrian Gadano,
  Ray Kim, Shiv K. Sarin and Mauro Bernardi, on behalf of the International Club
  of Ascites
Article first published online: 16 APR 2012 | DOI:
  10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02807.x 

March 2012
New DAA FDA Guidance March 2012

UK consensus guidelines for the use of the protease inhibitors boceprevir and telaprevir in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C infected patients
Source:
Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Volume 35, Issue 6, pages 647–662, March 2012

Jan-Feb 2012

*free registration required

Journal of Viral Hepatitis
Special Issue: How to Optimize Treatment of Hepatitis C

Liver International
*free registration required

Special Issue: Proceedings of the 5th Paris Hepatitis Conference. International Conference of the Management of Patients with Viral Hepatitis: Special Edition Hepatitis C Volume 32, Issue Supplement s1, pages 32–38, February 2012
 
2011 European Association of the Study of the Liver hepatitis C virus clinical practice guidelines (pages 2–8) Vincenza Calvaruso and Antonio Craxì

Article first published online: 29 DEC 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2011.02703.x

  

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