Antibodies to an interfering epitope in hepatitis C virus E2 can mask vaccine‐induced neutralizing activity

Alla Kachko, Sharon E. Frey, Lev Sirota, Ranjit Ray, Frances Wells, Iryna Zubkova, Pei Zhang, Marian E. Major – 6 August 2015 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) neutralization occurring at the E2 region 412‐426 (EP‐I) could be enhanced when antibodies directed specifically to the E2 region 434‐446 (EP‐II) were removed from serum samples of persistently infected patients and vaccinated chimpanzees, a phenomenon of so‐called antibody interference. Here, we show that this type of interference can be observed in individuals after immunization with recombinant E1E2 proteins.

Present and future therapies of hepatitis B: From discovery to cure

T. Jake Liang, Timothy M. Block, Brian J. McMahon, Marc G. Ghany, Stephan Urban, Ju‐Tao Guo, Stephen Locarnini, Fabien Zoulim, Kyong‐Mi Chang, Anna S. Lok – 3 August 2015 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a significant global pathogen, infecting more than 240 million people worldwide. While treatment for HBV has improved, HBV patients often require lifelong therapies and cure is still a challenging goal.

The prognostic value of hepatic venous pressure gradient in patients with cirrhosis is highly dependent on the accuracy of the technique

Gilberto Silva‐Junior, Anna Baiges, Fanny Turon, Ferran Torres, Virginia Hernández‐Gea, Jaime Bosch, Juan Carlos García‐Pagán – 3 August 2015 – Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), the difference between wedged (WHVP) and free hepatic vein pressure (FHVP), predicts survival in patients with cirrhosis. It has been suggested for the use of inferior vena cava (IVC) value instead of FHVP to calculate HVPG when the difference between proximal FHVP (obtained at 2 cm from the hepatic vein outlet) and IVC (measured at the level of the hepatic ostium) is >2 mm Hg.

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