Efficacy of standard antiviral therapy retreatment following interferon treatment failure in chronic hepatitis C patients / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of standard antiviral therapy applied after interferon (IFN) treatment failure in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>CHC patients who completed a 48-week course of IFN therapy (pegylated (Peg)-IFNa-2a at 180 mug, qw, ih with or without ribavirin (RBV) at 15 mg/kg/w) in our hospital between January 2009 and June 2012 but who showed no response (at week 48) or who relapsed (at week 72) were enrolled in the study. Prior to initiating the 48-week course of retreatment therapy (Peg-IFNa-2a plus RBV as above), the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype was detected and the viral load measured (baseline) by PCR of HCV RNA. Each patient's response to therapy was classified as follows: baseline vs. week 4 (rapid virological response, RVR), vs. weeks 12 and 24 (early virological response, EVR), vs. week 48 (end of treatment virological response, ETVR) and vs. week 72 (sustained virological response, SVR).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the total 235 cases administered retreatment therapy, 60.0% (n = 140) achieved RVR, 77.4% (n = 182) achieved EVR, 83.8% (n = 197) achieved ETVR, 68.0% (n = 68%) achieved SVR, and 15.7% (n = 37) relapsed. Stratification analysis of recurrence (n = 158) and non-responsive (n = 77) sub-groups showed that the recurrence group experienced significantly higher rates of RVR, EVR, ETVR and SVR, but a significantly lower rate of relapse. Stratification analysis of genotype 1b carrier (n = 206) and non-1b carrier (n = 29) sub-groups showed that the 1b carriers had significantly lower rates of RVR, EVR, ETVR and SVR, but a significantly higher rate of relapse. Finally, the patients who achieved RVR (vs. non RVR, n = 95) and EVR (vs. non-EVR, n = 53) showed higher rates of SVR and ETVR.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CHC patients who fail to respond to the initial course of standard IFN-based therapy may achieve SVR upon retreatment, especially those infected with the HCV genotype 1b.</p>

Expression of Notch1 in the genital tubercle of male rats with hypospadias induced by Di-n-butyl phthalate / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the differential expression of Notch1 in the genital tubercle (GT) of fetal male rats with hypospadias induced by maternal exposure to Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and that in normal control fetal rats in order to further explore the role of Notch1 in DBP-induced hypospadias.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty pregnant SD rats were equally and randomly divided into an experimental and a control group, the former given DBP and the latter soybean oil intragastrically at 800 mg/(kg x d) and 2 ml/d respectively from gestation day (GD) 14 to GD 18. On GD 19, the birth weight (BW), anogenital distance (AGD) and hypospadias incidence were recorded, GTs of the fetal male rats collected, and the expression of Notch1 analyzed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The BW of the fetal male rats was (4.40 +/- 0.30) g in the experimental group, significantly lower than (6.11 +/- 0.40) g in the control (P <0.05), and the AGD was (2.17 +/- 0.18) mm in the former, markedly shorter than (3.28 +/- 0.16) mm in the latter (P<0.05). The incidence of hypospadias was 42.9%. The relative expression of Notch1 was remarkably lower in the hypospadiac rats than in the normal controls (0.671 +/- 0.021 vs 1.327 +/- 0.031, P<0.05), and it was mainly located in the epithelial cells of the GT. The staining intensity was obviously weaker in the hypospadias than in the normal control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>DBP has an obvious toxic effect on fetal male rats and can change the expression of Notch1 in the GT. It possibly affects cell proliferation and apoptosis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), resulting in the occurrence of hypospadias.</p>

Identification the relationship between mutation patterns of rtM204I/V in the polymerase gene and genotypes of hepatitis B virus / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between the mutation patterns of rtM204V/I (methionine to valine or isoleucine at position rt204 of reverse transcriptase domain) in hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase gene and HBV genotypes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 2849 HBV complete genome sequences were retrieved from the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ. HBV genotypes were determined by using MEGA4 software. The amino acid sequences of the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain were aligned. Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0. RESULTS Among the 2849 HBV complete genome sequences, 217 strains with Y (I/V) DD were identified. Of them, 120 had YIDD mutation and the genotype/subgenotype distribution was as follows: A (2), B(B2 19), C(C1 1, C2 78, C5 1), D(17), E(1), G(1); 97 had YVDD mutation and the genotype/subgenotype distribution was as follows: A(17), B(B2 22), C(C1 3, C2 48), D(3), G(3), H(1). There is a significant difference in the mutation patterns of Y (I/V) DD among genotypes of A-D, A-C, and between genotype A and B, P < 0.01.There is a difference in the mutation pattern of Y (I/V) DD among genotypes of B-D, between genotype C and D, P < 0.05. Genotype A has a higher tendency to develop YVDD mutation, whereas genotype D has a higher frequency to develop YIDD mutation. The rtM204V-rtL180M mutations were more frequently found in subgenotype B2 than in subgenotype C2 while the rtM204V-rtL180M-rtV173L mutations were more associated with subgenotype C2 (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Different HBV genotype/subgenotype may select different mutation pattern in the YMDD domain. Subgenotype C2 is more diversity and complexity than other HBV genotypes/subgenotypes.</p>

A novel method for hepatitis C virus genotyping using RT-PCR reverse dot blot hybridization technique / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a rapid and specific method for hepatitis C virus ( HCV) genotyping using reverse dot blot hybridization technique and investigate the distribution of HCV genotypes and subtypes in Guangdong.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The primers and the probes targeting the 5'untranslated region (5'UTR) and core region of HCV genotypes 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b and 6a were designed, and the RT-PCR reverse dot blot hybridization (PCR-RDH) method for HCV genotyping was established. A total of 115 patients with hepatitis C were genotyped using this method, and 38 of them were also genotyped by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to evaluate the accuracy and specificity of the method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 115 patients, 111 were successfully genotyped to be 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 6a and mix-infection of 1b/2a at frequencies of 56.8%, 8.1 %, 3.6%, 5.4%, 25.2% and 0.9% respectively, and all the 15 healthy control samples showed negative results. The accuracy and reliability of the genotyping method of PCR-RDH was confirmed in 38 cases by amplification of HCV core and NS5B regions followed by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This method for HCV genotyping, with high reliability and specificity, is suitable for clinical and epidemiological investigations. The prevalence of HCV genotypes 1b and 2a decreases while 1b remains the dominant genotype in Guangdong, where the prevalence of 6a significantly increases as compared with that 10 years ago.</p>

Preparation of human anti-HBs from volunteers with hepatitis B vaccine boost vaccination by modified B-cell immortalization technique / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish immortalized B lymphoblast cell lines (B-LCLs) from healthy anti-HBs antibody (anti-HBs)-positive volunteers and screen for human anti-HBs and the antibody-secreting cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from 3 healthy volunteers positive for anti-HBs with hepatitis B vaccine boost vaccination were infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and incubated in the presence of CpG DNA motifs and cyclosporin A (CyA). The anti-HBs in the culture supernatant of the immortalized B-cells was quantified by Architect anti-HBs assay with chemiluminescent microparticle technique. Immunocytochemistry was performed to identify the differentiation of the cell clones expressing anti-HBs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immortalized B-cell culture was successfully established from the cell clones secreting anti-HBs with EBV infection and CpG DNA stimulation. The titer of anti-HBs in the culture supernatant was at its peak at 3 weeks of cell culture and then decreased gradually. At 3 months of cell culture, the cells still retained the capacity of anti-HBs production as verified by the results of immunocytochemistry for CD20 and CD138.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Immortalized B-cell culture secreting anti-HBs from volunteers receiving boost hepatitis B vaccination has been successfully established by modified EBV immortalization technique.</p>