Subject(s)
Hepatitis D/therapy , Hepatitis, Chronic/therapy , Interferon Type I/therapeutic use , Adult , Alanine Transaminase/blood , Antigens, Viral/analysis , Carrier State , Chronic Disease , Female , Hepatitis Antibodies/analysis , Hepatitis B/complications , Hepatitis B Antigens/analysis , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/analysis , Hepatitis B virus/immunology , Hepatitis Delta Virus/genetics , Hepatitis Delta Virus/immunology , Hepatitis Delta Virus/physiology , Hepatitis delta Antigens , Humans , Liver/immunology , Male , RNA, Viral/analysis , Recombinant Proteins/therapeutic use , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
The Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV), a defective ribonucleic acid virus dependent on the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a cause of severe liver disease that often leads to cirrhosis and death. Since the HDV finds in the HBV infection a biological niche in which to thrive indefinitely, the major victims of its infection are the carriers of HBsAg. Spontaneous resolution of chronic HDV hepatitis has been observed rarely and therapeutic attempts with steroids or azathioprine and levamisole have been discouraging. With the advent of recombinant DNA technologies several human alpha-interferons (IFNs) have been synthesized by genetic engineering and the availability of large amounts of the drug has dramatically altered the therapeutic prospects of viral hepatitis. In view of the wide range of biological activities of IFN, including inhibition of viral nucleic acid replication, we have tested the tolerance and the efficacy of this drug in chronic HDV hepatitis. The preliminary results of this study are reported.
Subject(s)
Hepatitis D/therapy , Hepatitis, Chronic/therapy , Interferon Type I/therapeutic use , Recombinant Proteins/therapeutic use , Adult , Clinical Trials as Topic , Female , Humans , Male , Random AllocationABSTRACT
The effects of in vivo acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treatment on the fibrinolytic activity of peripheral blood granulocytes have been studied in a group of healthy volunteers. Following a 4-day treatment with aspirin at a dose of 1 g/day, both the plasminogen-dependent and the nonspecific fibrinolytic activity were significantly decreased. On the contrary, no significant change in the granulocyte fibrinolytic activity was found after treatment with 250 mg ASA/day. It is suggested that the cellular release mechanism of such lytic enzymes rather than their synthesis could have been affected by the drug.
Subject(s)
Aspirin/pharmacology , Fibrinolysis/drug effects , Granulocytes/drug effects , Adolescent , Adult , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Peptide Hydrolases/pharmacology , Plasminogen/metabolismABSTRACT
The fibrinolytic activity of human peripheral blood leukocytes was studied by plating the cells on 125I-fibrin coated dishes. The separation of the three major leukocyte types allowed to demonstrate that most of the activity was produced by granulocytes. The rate of fibrinolysin was found to be linear with incubation time and cell number in the range of 1-4 X 10(5) cells/ml. Since little activity was found in absence of exogenous plasminogen, it was concluded that the cell fibrinolytic activity depended mostly upon the release of plasminogen activator. Plasmatic and granulocytic activators obtained from the same amount of blood were found to be of similar level suggesting a possible clinical implication of the cellular activity in the thrombolytic system.
