Fifty patients with chronic HBs antigenemia and Dane particle-associated DNA polymerase and HBeAg in their serum were contrasted to 46 HBsAg positive patients who had neither serum DNA polymerase or HBeAg. The time from acute onset and the duration of antigenemia were longer in patients who were DNA polymerase and HBeAg negative than in those who had both serum markers. Cirrhosis, hypoalbuminemia, and sequelae of chronic liver disease were more common in DNA polymerase, HBeAg negative patients than in those who were positive. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that active viral replication is an early, albeit prolonged stage in the development of advanced HBsAg-associated liver disease.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection: infectious virus cannot be detected in patient serum after permanent responses to treatment.

Fourteen chimpanzees were inoculated with pre- and posttreatment sera from seven patients with persistent hepatitis B virus infection and chronic hepatitis who had permanent responses of their infection to treatment with interferon and/or adenine arabinoside. Inoculation of pretreatment serum at a dilution of 10(-8) from a patient with a Type I response to treatment [disappearance of Dane particle DNA polymerase (DNAP) activity, HBeAg, and HBsAg from serum] resulted in infection, while undiluted posttreatment serum (all markers negative) failed to infect another animal. Pretreatment sera (DNAP, HBeAg, and HBsAg positive) from all six patients with a Type II response to treatment (disappearance of DNAP activity and HBeAg but not HBsAg from serum) led to infection in six chimpanzees after inoculation of serum dilutions varying between 10(-2) and 10(-7). Inoculation of undiluted posttreatment sera (HBsAg positive and DNAP and HBeAg negative) from the same six patients produced no evidence of hepatitis B virus infection in another six animals. These results indicate that a Type I or II response to treatment with these antiviral agents reduces the infectivity in the serum of patients with chronic hepatitis B to below the level of detection by this assay. Such changes should be useful in interrupting spread of the infection between individuals. Our findings suggest that the serum of some patients who, without treatment are HBsAg positive and DNAP and HBeAg negative, may also be free of detectable infectious hepatitis B virus.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Preliminary observation of hepatitis B-associated membranous glomerulonephritis treated with leukocyte interferon.

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Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cellular immunity to herpes simplex infection in humans.

A comparison of lymphocyte interferon production and transformation as in vitro parameters of cellular immunity to herpes simplex in humans in different types of mononuclear cell cultures is reported. Mononuclear cells were purified on Ficoll-Hypaque gradients and nylon fiber columns (purified T lymphocytes). Reactivity was then compared to that observed in autochthonous macrophage-lymphocyte cultures. The quantity and type (I or II) of interferon, as well as the magnitude of the transformation response, is affected by the type of cell culture used for assay. The kinetics of lymphocyte reactivity in doners studied within 12 weeks after disease were compared to those occurring at greater than 12 weeks after disease and in seronegative donors. The observed kinetics were variable according to the methods used to prepare mononuclear cells for culture.

Antibody Formation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Virus infections.

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Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ganciclovir treatment of serious cytomegalovirus infection in heart and heart-lung transplant recipients.

Experience with ganciclovir treatment of life- or sight-threatening cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in 22 heart and heart-lung transplant recipients at six medical centers was reviewed. All six heart-lung recipients and six of 16 heart recipients had CMV pneumonitis; five heart recipients had CMV gastrointestinal disease, three had retinitis, and two had infections in more than one organ system. Of the 18 patients (82%) surviving initial ganciclovir therapy, 16 improved, one stabilized, and one showed no change in clinical status. All cultures positive for CMV before treatment became negative during therapy. Six patients (33% of survivors) had recurrent episodes and received additional therapy. Four patients (18%) died during initial therapy; death was believed to be related to CMV infection in only two cases and to ganciclovir treatment in no case. Adverse reactions possibly attributable to ganciclovir included neutropenia (four patients), impaired renal function (one), thrombocytopenia (one), decreased blood pressure (one), and seizure (one). Ganciclovir appears to be well tolerated and to alter favorably the outcome of serious CMV infection in this patient population.

Acyclovir↗