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Defensin Alpha 4 (DEFA4) is the fourth member of the Alpha Defensins family known as a part of antimicrobial peptides in the innate immune system. DEFA4 has a strong preference to kill Gram-negative bacteria more than Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, DEFA4 exhibits antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in vitro. Moreover, DEFA4 can act as an inhibitor of corticosterone production (Corticostatin). On the other hand, alternations in DEFA4 gene expression have been reported in different disorders such as diseases related to inflammation and immunity dysfunction, brain-related disorders, and various cancers. The up-regulation of DEFA4 appears to be involved in the malignant transformation or aggressive form of cancer. Interestingly, the modified version of DEFA4 fragment (1–11) was potent and efficient against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This review provides a general background abSaudi Arabia out DEFA4 and sheds light on changes in DEFA4 gene expression in different diseases. The paper also discusses other aspects related to DEFA4 as an antimicrobial and antiviral agent. The research was conducted based on available articles obtained from databases starting from 1988 to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two types of epidemiological models called "within host" and "between hosts" have been studied. The within-host model represents the innate immune response, and the between-hosts model signifies the SEIR (susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered) epidemic model. The major contribution of this paper is to break the chain of infectious disease transmission by reducing the number of susceptible and infected people via transferring them to the recovered people group with vaccination and antiviral treatment, respectively. Both transfers are considered with time delay. In the first step, optimal control theory is applied to calculate the optimal final time to control the disease within a host's body with a cost function. To this end, the vaccination that represents the effort that converts healthy cells into resistant-to-infection cells in the susceptible individual's body is used as the first control input to vaccinate the susceptible individual against the disease. Moreover, the next control input (antiviral treatment) is applied to eradicate the concentrations of the virus and convert healthy cells into resistant-to-infection cells simultaneously in the infected person's body to treat the infected individual. The calculated optimal time in the first step is considered as the delay of vaccination and antiviral treatment in the SEIR dynamic model. Using Pontryagin's maximum principle in the second step, an optimal control strategy is also applied to an SEIR mathematical model with a nonlinear transmission rate and time delay, which is computed as optimal time in the first step. Numerical results are consistent with the analytical ones and corroborate our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Antiviral activity is a main function of many types of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and they may contribute more in the process of certain viral epidemics. Therefore, based on the effectiveness and economy of TCM, we aimed to determine the situation of health economic studies about antivirals, especially the difference between TCM and non-TCM. Methods. A literature search of three databases was conducted with a time range of January 2000–December 2020, and terms related to health economics and TCM were used as key terms. QHES and CHEERS were used as quality assessment tools. Results. 203 papers were included in our research. After evaluation using QHES and CHEERS, antiviral TCM obtained an overall score of 41.37 ± 4.46/99 in QHES, compared with 48.89 ± 7.25/99 (18.18% higher than TCM) of antiviral non-TCM. Conclusion. With a statistically significant difference, the overall quality of pharmacoeconomic research about antiviral non-Chinese medicine is better than that about antiviral Chinese medicine, which may have resulted from researchers' capacities or the absence of a more suitable standard for pharmacoeconomic research. It tells that the quality of pharmacoeconomic studies about TCM still warrants improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Despite substantial progress in the treatment of hepatitis C through the use of direct-acting antivirals which have been shown to cure the disease, complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are popular among patients as a substitute or complement of allopathic medicines. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and CAM practitioners on the use of CAM for the treatment of hepatitis C in Pakistan. Methods. A cross-sectional design was adopted. Participants (CAM practitioners and patients) were recruited from the capital and two provinces: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab of Pakistan. A survey using paper-based questionnaires, each specific for patients and CAM practitioners, was conducted to gather information pertaining to demography, disease status, treatment history, and participants' perspectives (about the disease, reasons to switch to CAM, and referring source). Results. A total of 417 respondents (n = 284 patients, n = 133 practitioners) were recruited. Of the total patients, 170 (59.9%) had started CAM during the previous three months. There were 168 (59.2%) of the total patients who had used allopathic treatments for hepatitis C prior to their use of CAM. The confidence in CAM (24.6%), high cost (19%), and unbearable side effects (52.1%) of allopathic medicines were the main reasons to switch to CAM treatment. Majority (49.3%) of the patients were referred to CAM on the recommendations of relatives or care givers (17.3%) whereas only 9.5% were referred by health care professionals. Out of 133 practitioners, 48 (36.1%) were practicing herbal medicines. From practitioners' perspectives, club-moss (Lycopodium clavatum) was the best treatment option for hepatitis C. The majority, 73 (54.9%), of the patients had chosen to use CAM because of the side effects of allopathic medicines. Patients who had previous "good experience" with CAM were the most common referral source (56.4%) for CAM use in hepatitis C. Conclusions. Patients' beliefs in CAM, side effects of allopathic therapy, high cost of allopathic medicines, and referrals from previous CAM users are key factors in the switching of hepatitis C patients to CAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have proven to possess advantages in counteracting virus infections according to clinical practices. It's therefore of great value to discover novel antivirals from TCMs. In this paper, One hundred medicinal plants which have been included in TCM prescriptions for antiviral treatment were selected and prefractionated into 5 fractions each by sequentially using cyclohexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. 500 TCM-simplified extracts were then subjected to a phenotypic screening using a recombinant IAV expressing Gaussia luciferase. Ten TCM fractions were identified to possess antiviral activities against influenza virus. The IC50's of the hit fractions range from 1.08 to 6.45 μg/mL, while the SIs, from 7.52 to 98.40. Furthermore, all the ten hit fractions inhibited the propagation of progeny influenza virus significantly at 20 μg/mL. The hit TCM fractions deserve further isolation for responsible constituents leading towards anti-influenza drugs. Moreover, a library consisting of 500 simplified TCM extracts was established, facilitating antiviral screening in quick response to emerging and re-emerging viruses such as Ebola virus and current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the nonnegativity and local and global stability properties of the solutions of a newly proposed SEIADR model which incorporates asymptomatic and dead-infective subpopulations into the standard SEIR model and, in parallel, it incorporates feedback vaccination plus a constant term on the susceptible and feedback antiviral treatment controls on the symptomatic infectious subpopulation. A third control action of impulsive type (or “culling”) consists of the periodic retirement of all or a fraction of the lying corpses which can become infective in certain diseases, for instance, the Ebola infection. The three controls are allowed to be eventually time varying and contain a total of four design control gains. The local stability analysis around both the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points is performed by the investigation of the eigenvalues of the corresponding Jacobian matrices. The global stability is formally discussed by using tools of qualitative theory of differential equations by using Gauss-Stokes and Bendixson theorems so that neither Lyapunov equation candidates nor the explicit solutions are used. It is proved that stability holds as a parallel property to positivity and that disease-free and the endemic equilibrium states cannot be simultaneously either stable or unstable. The periodic limit solution trajectories and equilibrium points are analyzed in a combined fashion in the sense that the endemic periodic solutions become, in particular, equilibrium points if the control gains converge to constant values and the control gain for culling the infective corpses is asymptotically zeroed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is endemic in the Mediterranean area. In the last decades a northward spread of the parasite has been observed in Italy. This paper describes a VL outbreak in Modena province (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy) between 2012 and 2015. Methods. Retrospective, observational study to evaluate epidemiological, microbiological characteristics, and clinical management of VL in patients referring to Policlinico Modena Hospital. Results. Sixteen cases of VL occurred in the study period. An immunosuppressive condition was present in 81.3%. Clinical presentation included anemia, fever, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and hepatosplenomegaly. Serology was positive in 73.3% of cases, peripheral blood PCR in 92.3%, and bone marrow blood PCR in 100%. Culture was positive in 3/6 cases (50%) and all the isolates were identified as L. infantum by ITS1/ITS2 sequencing. The median time between symptom onset and diagnosis was 22 days (range 6–131 days). All patients were treated with liposomal amphotericin b. 18.8% had a VL recurrence and were treated with miltefosine. Attributable mortality was 6.3%. Conclusions. VL due to L. infantum could determine periodical outbreaks, as the one described; thus it is important to include VL in the differential diagnosis of fever of unknown origin, even in low-endemic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic hepatitis C remains one of the main causes of chronic liver disease worldwide and presents a variable natural history ranging from minimal changes to advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis and its complications, such as development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Approximately, 1.45 million people are estimated to be infected by HCV in Brazil representing a major public health issue. The aim of this paper was to review the epidemiology and management of chronic hepatitis C from a Brazilian perspective. The management of chronic hepatitis C has been challenged by the use of noninvasive methods to stage liver fibrosis as an alternative to liver biopsy and the high cost of new interferon-free antiviral treatments. Moreover, the need of cost-effectiveness analysis in hepatitis C and the recent changes in treatment protocols were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease worldwide, despite the availability of highly effective antiviral treatments. In this paper, a basic mathematical model for the spread of HSV-2 incorporating all the relevant biological details and poor treatment adherence is proposed and analysed. Equilibrium states of the model are determined and their stability has been investigated. The basic model is then extended to incorporate a time dependent intervention strategy. The aim of the control is tied to reducing the rate at which HSV-2 patients in treatment quit therapy before completion. Practically, this control can be implemented through monitoring and counselling all HSV-2 patients in treatment. The Pontryagin’s maximum principle is used to characterize the optimal level of the control, and the resulting optimality system is solved numerically. Overall, the study demonstrates that though time dependent control will be effective on controlling new HSV-2 cases it may not be sustainable for certain time intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides overcoming physical constraints, such as extreme temperatures, reduced humidity, elevated pressure, and natural predators, human pathogens further need to overcome an arsenal of antimicrobial components evolved by the host to limit infection, replication and optimally, reinfection. Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infect humans at a high frequency and persist within the host for life by establishing latency in neurons. To gain access to these cells, herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) must replicate and block immediate host antiviral responses elicited by epithelial cells and innate immune components early after infection. During these processes, infected and noninfected neighboring cells, as well as tissue-resident and patrolling immune cells, will sense viral components and cell-associated danger signals and secrete soluble mediators. While type-I interferons aim at limiting virus spread, cytokines and chemokines will modulate resident and incoming immune cells. In this paper, we discuss recent findings relative to the early steps taking place during HSV infection and replication. Further, we discuss how HSVs evade detection by host cells and the molecular mechanisms evolved by these viruses to circumvent early antiviral mechanisms, ultimately leading to neuron infection and the establishment of latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fructus Ligustri Lucidi is a well-known invigorator in Chinese materia medica with hepatoprotective effect, anticancer activity, antioxidant activity, and so on. And oleanolic acids are the major pharmacologically active components in Fructus Ligustri Lucidi. So it has great value in medical health, and may be developed to a complementary and alternative medicine through further research. In this paper, the advances in research on pharmacological effects of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi were summarized by reviewing the recent related literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This paper describes perceptions of the end users on quality of antiretroviral therapy ( ART) in public health facilities in Nigeria. Background Health care services in Nigeria face challenges of meeting end users' requirements and expectations for quality ART service provision. Method A qualitative design was followed. Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with end users ( n = 64) in six locations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Results The findings indicate that end users were satisfied with uninterrupted antiretroviral drug supplies, courtesy treatment, volunteerism of support group members and quality counselling services. Conclusion End users expect effective collaboration between healthcare providers and support group members, to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV. Implications for nursing management A best practice guideline for the provision of end user focused ART service provision was developed for nurse managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling, analysis, and control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have attracted the interests of mathematicians during the recent years. Several mathematical models exist and adequately explain the HBV dynamics as well as the effect of antiviral drug therapies. However, none of these models can completely exhibit all that is observed clinically and account the full course of infection. Besides model inaccuracies thatHBVdynamicsmodels suffer from, some disturbances/uncertainties from different sources may arise in the modeling. In this paper, the HBV dynamics is described by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The disturbances or uncertainties are modeled in the HBV dynamics model as additive bounded disturbances. The model is incorporated with two types of drug therapies which are used to inhibit viral production and prevent new infections. The model can be considered as nonlinear control system with control input is defined to be dependent on the drug dose and drug efficiency. We developed treatment schedules for HBV infected patients by using multirate model predictive control (MPC). The MPC is applied to the stabilization of the uninfected steady state of the HBV dynamics model. The inherent robustness properties of the MPC against additive disturbances are also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although filoviral infections are still occurring in different parts of the world, there are no effective preventive or treatment strategies currently available against them. Not only do filoviruses cause a deadly infection, but they also have the potential of being used as biological weapons. This makes it imperative to comprehensively study these viruses in order to devise effective strategies to prevent the occurrence of these infections. Entry is the foremost step in the filoviral replication cycle and different studies have reported the involvement of a myriad of cellular factors including plasma membrane components, cytoskeletal proteins, end osomal components, and cytosolic factors in this process. Signaling molecules such as the TAM family of receptor tyrosine kinases comprising of Tyro3, Axl, and Mer have also been implicated as putative entry factors. Additionally, filoviruses are suggested to bind to a common receptor and recent studies have proposed T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 1 (TIM-1) and Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) as potential receptor candidates. This paper summarizies the existing literature on filoviral entry with a special focus on cellular factors involved in this process and also highlights some fundamental questions. Future research aimed at answering these questions could be very useful in designing novel antiviral therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propolis, known also as bee glue, is a wax-cum-resin substance which is created out of a mix of buds from some trees with the substance secreted from bee's glands. Its diverse chemical content is responsible for its many precious salubrious properties. It was used in medicine already in ancient Egypt. Its multiple applications during the centuries have been studied and described in details. The purpose of this study is to present the possible use of propolis in treatment of various diseases of oral cavity in their dental aspect. The paper presents properties and possible applications of bee glue depending on dental specialities. An overview of publications which appeared during the recent years will allow the reader to follow all the possibilities to apply propolis in contemporary dentistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite access to antiretroviral therapy, mortality from cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is high among persons with advanced HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) is present several weeks to months before the onset of symptoms of meningitis and can be screened to prevent life threatening meningitis. Recently, the World Health Organisation recommended that a new rapid CrAg lateral flow "dipstick" assay (LFA) is to be used to screen HIV-infected persons with CD4 counts of less than 100 cells/[iL. In this paper, we describe two cases of cryptococcosis with differing outcomes. In the first case, the new CrAg LFA was used as part of a screen and preemptive treatment strategy to prevent CM. In the second case, our patient had no access to the CrAg LFA and subsequently developed life threatening meningitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of cryptococcosis diagnosed using this novel assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue virus (DENV) infections are expanding worldwide and, because of the lack of a vaccine, the search for antiviral products is imperative. Four serotypes of DENV are described and they all cause a similar disease outcome. It would be interesting to develop an antiviral product that can interact with all four serotypes, prevent host cell infection and subsequent immune activation. DENV entry is thus an interesting target for antiviral therapy. DENV enters the host cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Several cellular receptors have been proposed, and DC-SIGN, present on dendritic cells, is considered as the most important DENV receptor until now. Because DENV entry is a target for antiviral therapy, various classes of compounds have been investigated to inhibit this process. In this paper, an overview is given of all the putative DENV receptors, and the most promising DENV entry inhibitors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and evaluation of antiviral agents through carefully designed clinical trials over the last 25 years have heralded a new dawn in the treatment of patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B and C viruses, but not so for the D virus (HBV, HCV, and HDV). The introduction of direct acting antivirals (DDAs) for the treatment of HBV carriers has permitted the long-term use of these compounds for the continuous suppression of viral replication, whilst in the case of HCV in combination with the standard of care [SOC, pegylated interferon (PegIFN), and ribavirin] sustained virological responses (SVRs) have been achieved with increasing frequency. Progress in the case of HDV has been slow and lacking in significant breakthroughs. This paper aims to summarise the current state of play in treatment approaches for chonic viral hepatitis patients and future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) involves combinations of drugs to achieve maximal virological response and reduce the potential for the emergence of antiviral resistance. There are two broad classes of reverse transcriptase inhibitors, the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Since the first classes of such compounds were developed, viral resistance against them has necessitated the continuous development of novel compounds within each class. This paper considers the NRTIs and NNRTIs currently in both preclinical and clinical development or approved for second line therapy and describes the patterns of resistance associated with their use, as well as the underlying mechanisms that have been described. Due to reasons of both affordability and availability, some reverse transcriptase inhibitors with low genetic barrier are more commonly used in resource-limited settings. Their use results to the emergence of specific patterns of antiviral resistance and so may require specific actions to preserve therapeutic options for patients in such settings. More recently, the advent of integrase strand transfer inhibitors represents another major step forward toward control of HIV infection, but these compounds are also susceptible to problems of HIV drug resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) has been demonstrated by epidemiological studies, in particular in highly endemic geographical areas such as Italy, Japan, and southern parts of United States. In these countries, together with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, marginal zone lymphomas are the histotypes most frequently associated with HCV infection; in Italy around 20-30% cases of marginal zone lymphomas are HCV positive. Recently, antiviral treatment with interferon with or without ribavirin has been proved to be effective in the treatment of HCV-positive patients affected by indolent lymphoma, prevalently of marginal zone origin. An increasing number of experiences confirmed the validity of this approach in marginal zone lymphomas and in other indolent NHL subtypes like lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. Across different studies, overall response rate was approximately 75%. Hematological responses resulted significantly associated with the eradication of the virus. This is the strongest evidence of a causative link between HCV and lymphomas. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the relationship between HCV infection and different subtypes of indolent B-cell lymphomas and to systematically summarize the data from the therapeutic studies that reported the use of antiviral treatment as hematological therapy in patients with HCV-associated indolent lymphomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) can develop systemic cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. Combination of pegylatedinterferon α and ribavirin is the first-line treatment of this condition. However, in case of severe or life-threatening manifestations, absence of a virological response, or autonomized vasculitis, immunotherapy (alone or in addition to the antiviral regimen) is necessary. Rituximab is to date the only biologic with a sufficient level of evidence to support its use in this indication. Several studies have demonstrated that rituximab is highly effective when cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis is refractory to antiviral regimen, that association of rituximab with antiviral regimen may induce a better and faster clinical remission, and, recently, that rituximab is more efficient than traditional immunosuppressive treatments. Some issues with regard to the optimal dose of rituximab or its use as maintenance treatment remain unsolved. Interestingly, in balance with this anti-inflammatory strategy, a recent pilot study reported the significant expansion of circulating regulatory T lymphocytes with concomitant clinical improvement in patients with refractory HCV-induced cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis using low dose of subcutaneous interleukin-2. This paper provides an updated overview on the place of immunotherapy, especially biologics, in the management of HCV-induced cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) is considered an autoimmune disease characterized by immune-mediated destruction of the intrahepatic bile ducts and its characteristic serologic marker, the anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA). Several factors were proposed to clarify the pathological and immunological mechanisms of PBC. Immunological reaction with a bacterial or a viral association was identified in the previous report, and it seems probable that PBC was thought to have such an etiology. The majority of patients with PBC was reported to have both RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry evidence of human betaretrovirus infection in lymph nodes or in 2008, the patient who developed PBC with high HIV viral load had an antiviral therapy and recovered. To understand the etiology of PBC associated with infection, several factors should be considered and especially animal models may be useful. In this paper, we introduce three typical animal models of PBC: the dominant-negative form of transforming growth factor-β receptor type II (dnTGFβRII) mouse, IL-2Rα-/- mouse and NOD.c3c4 mouse, are enumerated and described, and we discuss previous reports of viral infection associated with PBC and consider the etiology of PBC from our analysis of results in NOD.c3c4 mouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is closely associated with hepatic metabolic disorders. Hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance are both relatively common in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Recent investigations suggest that HCV infection changes the expression profile of lipid-metabolism-associated factors in the liver, conferring advantages to the life cycle of HCV. Moreover, insulin resistance and steatosis are independent predictors of impaired response to antiviral treatment in chronic hepatitis C. In this paper, we summarize our current knowledge of hepatic metabolic disorders and describe how HCV leads to and exploits these hepatic disorders. We also discuss the clinical significance of insulin sensitizers used to improve insulin resistance and lipid modulators used to manage lipid metabolism as potential treatment options for chronic hepatitis C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tripartite motif (TRIM) family of proteins is an evolutionarily ancient group of proteins with homologues identified in both invertebrate and vertebrate species. Human TRIM22 is one such protein that has a dynamic evolutionary history that includes gene expansion, gene loss, and strong signatures of positive selection. To date, TRIM22 has been shown to restrict the replication of a number of viruses, including encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In addition, TRIM22 has also been implicated in cellular differentiation and proliferation and may play a role in certain cancers and autoimmune diseases. This comprehensive paper summarizes our current understanding of TRIM22 structure and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistics clearly show an unmet need for highly effective contraception, especially in less developed countries. Many of these countries are at the core of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and show very high prevalence rates for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as that caused by HSV-2. A woman at risk of unintended pregnancy due to unprotected intercourse is also at risk for HIV/STI. Owing to their causative interrelationship, combining protection against these conditions will result in enhanced prevention and health benefits. Existing multipurpose prevention modalities such as condoms and physical barriers, albeit efficacious, face cultural hurdles that have so far hindered their widespread use. Success has recently been demonstrated in large clinical trials, demonstrating proof of concept of microbicides in reducing the incidence of HIV-1 and HSV-2 among at-risk populations. The challenge heretofore is to refine these products to make them more potent, convenient, accessible, and acceptable. Potent antiviral drugs released topically in the female reproductive tract by innovative delivered systems and formulations will provide safe, effective, and acceptable multipurpose prevention tools. This paper provides an overview of existing and novel approaches to multipurpose prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly prevalent and lethal cancer worldwide; despite the curative treatment for HCC, the rate of tumor recurrence after hepatectomy remains high. Tumor recurrence can occur early (<2 years) or late (>2 years) as metastases or de novo tumors. Several tumor factors were associated with HCC recurrence; high hepatitis B virus (HBV) load is the major risk factor for late recurrence of HCC after resection. Preoperative antiviral therapy improves liver function, and postoperative reduce HCC recurrence. In this paper, we focus on antiviral treatment to improve the liver function, prevent recurrence, and lengthen the overall survival for HBV-related HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

APOBEC proteins appeared in the cellular battle against HIV-1 as part of intrinsic cellular immunity. The antiretroviral activity of some of these proteins is overtaken by the action of HIV-1 Viral Infectivity Factor (Vif) protein. Since the discovery of APOBEC3G (A3G) as an antiviral factor, many advances have been made to understand its mechanism of action in the cell and how Vif acts in order to counteract its activity. The mainstream concept is that Vif overcomes the innate antiviral activity of A3G by direct protein binding and promoting its degradation via the cellular ubiquitin/proteasomal pathway. Vif may also inhibit A3G through mechanisms independent of proteasomal degradation. Binding of Vif to A3G is essential for its degradation since disruption of this interaction is predicted to stimulate intracellular antiviral immunity. In this paper we will discuss the different binding partners between both proteins as one of the major challenges for the development of new antiviral drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommended treatment of chronic hepatitis B with interferon-a and/or nucleos(t)ide analogues does not lead to a satisfactory result. Induction of HBV-specific T cells by therapeutic vaccination or immunotherapies may be an innovative strategy to overcome virus persistence. Vaccination with commercially available HBV vaccines in patients did not result in effective control of HBV infection, suggesting that new formulations of therapeutic vaccines are needed. The woodchuck (Marmota monax) is a useful preclinical model for developing the new therapeutic approaches in chronic hepadnaviral infections. Several innovative approaches combining antiviral treatments with nucleos(t)ide analogues, DNA vaccines, and protein vaccines were tested in the woodchuck model. In this paper we summarize the available data concerning therapeutic immunization and gene therapy using recombinant viral vectors approaches in woodchucks, which show encouraging results. In addition, we present potential innovations in immunomodulatory strategies to be evaluated in this animal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autoimmune thyroid diseases are common manifestations of hepatitis C infection, exacerbated by interferon-based treatment. However, the occurrence and pattern of thyroid disease in the short/medium term following the completion of IFN-based therapy is relatively unknown and there are very few previous reports regarding the specific spectrum of autoimmune thyroid disease that may follow such therapy. We hereby report 3 cases which demonstrate the range of thyroid diseases that may occur following interferon therapy. The hypothesis advanced is that in the pathogenesis of these conditions there must be both triggering and sustaining mechanisms as thyroid diseases occur well outside the immediate effect window of pegylated interferon. This paper suggests the need to continue thyroid surveillance in IFN-treated HCV patients following the completion of therapy, perhaps for the first 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]