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Introduction: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a common contaminant widely used in many industrial sectors. Because of its wide use and dispersion, it can be accumulated in living human bodies through both oral assumption and nondietary routes. BPA exhibits hormone-like properties, falling under the class of endocrine disruptors; therefore, it can alter relevant physiological functions. In particular, in women, it can affect folliculogenesis and therefore reproduction, contributing not only to infertility, but also to endometriosis and premature puberty. Methods: We conducted a multicenter study on 91 women undergoing a first in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in the Campania region (Southern Italy). We investigated the presence and concentration of BPA in serum and follicular fluids to assess the effects of airborne BPA contamination. The analysis was conducted on 32 women living in a low environmental impact (LEI) area, from the Sele Valley River and Cilento region, and 59 women living in a high environmental impact (HEI) area, the so-called "Land of Fires", a highly contaminated territory widely exposed to illegal waste practices. Results: A higher average BPA content in both blood serum and follicular fluid was revealed in the HEI group when compared with the LEI group. In addition, we revealed higher average BPA content in blood serum than in folliclular fluid in the HEI area, with opposite average content in the two fluids in the LEI zone. In addition, our results also showed a lack of correlation between BPA content in follicular and serum fluids both in the overall population and in the HEI and LEI groups, with peculiar trends in different subsets of women. Conclusion: From our results, we revealed a heterogeneity in the distribution of BPA content between serum and follicular fluid. Further studies are needed to unravel the bioaccumulation mechanisms of BPA in highly polluted and nonpolluted areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: This study aims at evaluating the efficacy of treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2b and ribavirin in patients with recurrent hepatitis C (genotype 1) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and the impact of this therapy on hepatic fibrosis at the end of conventional therapy and at the end of a period of maintenance treatment in non-responder patients., Methodology: Thirty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with recurrent HCV were considered candidates for antiviral therapy., Results: Ten patients (31.2%) interrupted therapy due to side effects; sustained virological response (SVR) was observed in 27.2%, sustained biochemical response (SBR) in 31.8% and NR in 40.9% of cases. Eighteen patients underwent a biopsy at the end of conventional treatment: improved fibrosis score in all patients with SVR, improved score in 1 patient with SBR and stable score in 6 patients with SBR, worse score in 1 NR patient and stable in 6 NR patients. Six NR patients with stable score submitted to a maintenance therapy: improved score in 1 patient and stable score in 5 patients., Conclusions: In recurrent hepatitis C, in spite of the type of response, treatment slows down hepatic fibrotic evolution.

Up to today no work has evaluated yet the importance of parameters such Body Mass Index (BMI), cholesterol, triglycerides (TGC) and hepatic percentage of steatosis in the response to therapy with Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a and Ribavirin in patients with recurrent hepatitis C (genotype 1). 30 consecutive prospectively followed patients diagnosed with recurrent HCV were considered candidates for antiviral therapy. Qualitative and quantitative detection of HCV-RNA was performed with the Cobas Amplicor Hepatitis C Virus Test, version 2.0 and the Cobas Amplicor HCV Monitor, version 2.0 (Roche Diagnostics, Branchburgh, NJ, U.S.A.). HCV genotyping was performed by sequencing of the 5 untraslated region (5' UTR) (Visible Genetics TruGene Hepatitis Assay, Toronto, Canada). The observed distribution of BMI, cholesterol, TGC and steatosis were confirmed to be normally distributed by the one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Goodness of fit test procedure. Comparison of BMI, cholesterol, TGC and steatosis between non responders (NR), sustained virological responders (SVR) and sustained biochemical responders (SBR) groups were analyzed by ANOVA with a post hoc Bonferroni test and correlation between variables was tested by Pearson test. The multivariate analysis was performed to estimate the chance of response on basis of the above mentioned variables. In patients with abnormal results in at least two out of four considered variables the chance of no-response was 40 times higher than that of SBR and 96 times than that of SVR. We can conclude how the management of dismetabolism, diet and exercise therapy can improve BMI, liver histology and, therefore, the response to PEG-IFN Alfa-2a and Ribavirin.