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Gut microbiota promotes healthy effects on the host and prevents diseases. Probiotic (probios, for life) are defined as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.” At the beginning of 1900s Louis Pasteur identified the microorganisms responsible for the process of fermentation, whereas E. Metchnikoff associated the enhanced longevity of Bulgarian rural people to the regular consumption of fermented dairy products such as yogurt. He suggested that lactobacilli might counteract the putrefactive effects of gastrointestinal metabolism that contributed to illness and aging. Hippocrates declared, 2000 years earlier, that “death sits in the bowels.” Metchnikoff considered the lactobacilli as probiotics (“probios,” conducive to life of the host as opposed to antibiotics); probiotics could have a positive influence on health and prevent aging. During the neolitic period of the age of the stone, the domestication of animals occurred and man began to get fermented food. Probably serendipitous contaminations in favorable environments played a major role. Fecal microbiota transplantationdates to a fourth-century Chinese handbook for food poisoning or severe diarrhea. To date fecal transplant cures Clostridium difficileinfections with more efficacy than vancomycin, and prevents recurrence.

Alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) is a leading indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for end-stage liver disease resulting from hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with a high rate of recurrence and reduced survival. Lamivudine is effective in inhibiting HBV replication in patients with chronic hepatitis. This study evaluated the impact of lamivudine on viral suppression, liver function, and disease severity in patients awaiting OLT with HBV e-minus strain infection.

The effects of interferon therapy on hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome are still controversial in terms of biological and clinical significance. Changes in the quasispecies of the hypervariable (HVR) and non‐structural 5A (NS5A) regions of HCV 1b were evaluated in nine patients treated with increasing doses of interferon and five untreated controls. HCV quasispecies were analyzed in HVR and NS5A by single‐strand conformation polymorphism assay. The HVR quasispecies varied over time both in treated and untreated patients. However, at least one persistent strain was present in all patients. With low doses of interferon, variations in HVR complexity were found in seven of nine patients and in four patients new variants became detectable. A reduction in the heterogeneity of the HVR quasispecies was observed after increase of the interferon dose. In contrast, NS5A profiles remained unmodified in all but three cases in which direct sequencing showed no changes in amino acid sequences of the predominant strain. The results suggest that interferon sensitivity of some HCV strains may be dose dependent. The homogeneity of NS5A pattern populations during treatment suggests that interferon exerts much less pressure on this region. J. Med. Virol. 60:133–138, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Serum amylase and lipase concentrations weredetermined in 78 patients with chronic liver diseases[26 chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and 52 livercirrhosis] and in 15 healthy subjects. Pancreaticisoamylase concentrations and macroamylase complexes wereassayed in hyperamylasemic sera. Serum amylase levelswere abnormally elevated in 27 patients (35%; 22 livercirrhosis, 5 CAH), whereas serum lipase levels were elevated in 16 patients (21%; 15 livercirrhosis, 1 CAH). In 9 of the 27 hyperamylasemicpatients, the hyperamylasemia was of pancreatic type.Macroamylasemic complexes were not detected inhyperamylasemic sera. Patients with liver cirrhosis had serumlevels of amylase and lipase significantly higher thanboth the healthy subjects and the patients with CAH,while no significant differences were found in serum levels of these enzymes in patients with CAH ascompared to the healthy subjects. A decreased livermetabolism of serum amylase and lipase in patients withchronic infective liver disease, especially in those having liver cirrhosis, may lead to anaccumulation of these enzymes in the blood.

In animal models hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and the hematopoietic cytokine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) contribute to tissue regeneration after acute or chronic liver damage. In this study, we assessed whether: 1) G-CSF can be safely administered to patients with liver cirrhosis to expand and mobilize HSCs into peripheral blood; 2) G-CSF treatment affects residual liver function. Eighteen patients with a Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score < 10 and a Mayo Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score < 20 were considered eligible for the study. Increasing doses of G-CSF were administered subcutaneously for 7 consecutive days to 5 cohorts of 3 patients each, starting from 2.2 μg/kg/daily, until the achievement of the maximum-tolerated dose and/or the successful mobilization of ≥10 CD34+ cells/μl in at least 2/3 patients. G-CSF mobilizing dose was found at 15 μg/kg/day. Four additional patients were treated with the mobilizing G-CSF dose. All of them showed a successful mobilization of HSCs with a median peak value of CD34+ and CD133+ cells of 27.1(±15.5) and 15.2 (±5.1)/μl, respectively. Circulating HSCs were then collected by single volume leukapheresis and a median of 1.4(±0.73)x106 CD34+ HSCs/kg body weight were cryopreserved. G-CSF treatment induced a significant increase of hepatocyte growth factor serum level. When we analyzed stem cell subsets, we found significant mobilization of early hematopoietic (CD34+/CD38−) and endothelial (CD34+/KDR+, CD133+/KDR+) progenitors as well as CD34+/CXCR4+ cells. No severe adverse events were observed at any dosage or during leukapheresis. According to CTP and MELD score, no significant modification of liver function was observed during the treatment period and follow up (median=198 days) in both mobilizing and non-mobilizing patients. Nevertheless, in all treated patients a significant reduction of alpha-fetoprotein values was observed (p<0.001). In conclusion, the administration of G-CSF to patients with liver cirrhosis is safe, feasible and capable of mobilizing HSCs at the dosage of 15 μg/kg/day. Our study represents the first step for evaluating the role of G-CSF and mobilized HSCs to improve liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis.

In animal models hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and the hematopoietic cytokine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) contribute to tissue regeneration after acute or chronic liver damage. In this study, we assessed whether: 1) G-CSF can be safely administered to patients with liver cirrhosis to expand and mobilize HSCs into peripheral blood; 2) G-CSF treatment affects residual liver function. Eighteen patients with a Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score < 10 and a Mayo Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score < 20 were considered eligible for the study. Increasing doses of G-CSF were administered subcutaneously for 7 consecutive days to 5 cohorts of 3 patients each, starting from 2.2 μg/kg/daily, until the achievement of the maximum-tolerated dose and/or the successful mobilization of ≥10 CD34+cells/μl in at least 2/3 patients. G-CSF mobilizing dose was found at 15 μg/kg/day. Four additional patients were treated with the mobilizing G-CSF dose. All of them showed a successful mobilization of HSCs with a median peak value of CD34+and CD133+cells of 27.1(±15.5) and 15.2 (±5.1)/μl, respectively. Circulating HSCs were then collected by single volume leukapheresis and a median of 1.4(±0.73)x106CD34+HSCs/kg body weight were cryopreserved. G-CSF treatment induced a significant increase of hepatocyte growth factor serum level. When we analyzed stem cell subsets, we found significant mobilization of early hematopoietic (CD34+/CD38−) and endothelial (CD34+/KDR+, CD133+/KDR+) progenitors as well as CD34+/CXCR4+cells. No severe adverse events were observed at any dosage or during leukapheresis. According to CTP and MELD score, no significant modification of liver function was observed during the treatment period and follow up (median=198 days) in both mobilizing and non-mobilizing patients. Nevertheless, in all treated patients a significant reduction of alpha-fetoprotein values was observed (p<0.001). In conclusion, the administration of G-CSF to patients with liver cirrhosis is safe, feasible and capable of mobilizing HSCs at the dosage of 15 μg/kg/day. Our study represents the first step for evaluating the role of G-CSF and mobilized HSCs to improve liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis.

We assessed prevalence and risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in 637 patients (506 men, 131 women; median age 30 years, range 17–64) attending between September 1988 and July 1989 for the first time two sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics in Northern Italy, for suspected or STD treatment. A total of 44 subjects (6.9%, 95% confidence interval, (CI): 4.9–8.9) were seropositive for HIV antibodies. The prevalence of HIV infection decreased with age, from 9% in patients aged 24 years or less to 3% in those aged 45 years or more (x2, trend 4.97, p<0.05). Women tended to have a lower prevalence of infection then men (5.3% versus 7.3%) but this was not statistically significant. Compared with men reporting no homosexual intercourse, HIV infection risk was about 50% higher in those reporting bisexual intercourse (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.5, 95% CI: 0.6–3.6) and about fourfold in those reporting only homosexual intercourse (OR 3.8, 95% CI: 1.7–8.5). No clear trend in risk was observed with number of sexual partners both in men and in women. Intravenous drug users had an increased risk of HIV infection; compared with non-users, the OR was 5.6 (95% CI: 3.0–10.5) in users, and the point estimates increased with frequency of use, from 3.3 (95% CI: 0.8–11.5) in occasional users to 6.4 (95% CI: 3.2–12.8) in regular users. The risk of HIV infection was 2.2 (95% CI: 1.1–4.3) in patients reporting a history of STD, and 1.6 (95% CI: 0.8–3.3) in those reporting syphilis. The results of treponema pallidum haemogglutination assay (TPHA) and veneral disease reference laboratory (VDRL) assays were consistent with the latter finding: patients with positive TPHA and VDRL tests had a risk of HIV infection respectively of 2.0 (95% CI: 1.0–4.2) and 2.7 (95% CI: 1.4–5.4); these associations however were not found in intravenous drug users.