Hepatitis C News and Research

Latest Hepatitis C News and Research

Silymarin does not provide greater benefit for patients with chronic HCV infection

Use of the botanical product silymarin, an extract of milk thistle that is commonly used by some patients with chronic liver disease, did not provide greater benefit than placebo for patients with treatment-resistant chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, according to a study in the July 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Jul 2012

Hepatitis C treatment may be helped by vitamin B12 supplements

Adding vitamin B12 to standard hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment significantly boosts the body’s ability to keep the virus at bay, indicates a pilot study published online in the journal Gut.

18 Jul 2012

Smoking, hepatitis and liver transplantation: An interview with Dr Peter Ghali

We are very interested in hepatitis C as it is the most common indication for liver transplant in the Western world. The difficulty is that recurrence happens in the majority of patients within the first 2 to 7 years after transplant, and occasionally sooner.

18 Jul 2012

Johnson & Johnson second quarter sales decrease 0.7% to $16.5B

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $16.5 billion for the second quarter of 2012, a decrease of 0.7% as compared to the second quarter of 2011. Operational results increased 3.5% and the negative impact of currency was 4.2%.

17 Jul 2012

Helper T cells may be frontline warriors when battling hepatitis A infection

Helper cells traditionally thought to only assist killer white blood cells may be the frontline warriors when battling hepatitis A infection. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children's Hospital study appearing in a recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

17 Jul 2012

Activating NOTCH and AKT gene may trigger cholangiocarcinoma

A rare type of cancer thought to derive from cells in the bile ducts of the liver may actually develop when one type of liver cell morphs into a totally different type, a process scientists used to consider all but impossible. UCSF researchers triggered this kind of cellular transformation-and caused tumors to form in mice-by activating just two genes.

17 Jul 2012

CDC launches Let's Stop HIV Together campaign

To combat two major obstacles to HIV prevention—stigma associated with the infection and complacency about the epidemic—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched Let's Stop HIV Together, a national communication campaign that gives voice to Americans living with HIV, and to their loved ones.

17 Jul 2012

Johns Hopkins doctoral program graduate explores ways to control infectious diseases

Her passport is stamped with exotic locations: Myanmar, Tibet, South Africa, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as Baltimore, MD. But, when Carrie Tudor, PhD, MPH, RN, looks at it, she sees global battlefields in the fight against infectious disease. Her weapons: immunizations, programs to curb tuberculosis and HIV transmission, and a drive to carry on a rich tradition of public health nursing research.

16 Jul 2012

College-age children also need immunizations, says UMDNJ professor

Most parents take their young children regularly for immunization shots that protect against polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps and other diseases. But many do not consider that their college-age children also need immunizations.

14 Jul 2012

Smokers at risk for recurrent hepatitis post-liver transplantation

Transplant recipients who smoke or have smoked increase their risk of viral hepatitis reinfection following liver transplantation according to new research available in the July issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

12 Jul 2012

HIV and AIDS treatment: An interview with Charles Flexner, MD

The best estimates at the moment reckon that there are about 25 million people infected with HIV. Most of those are in resource-limited settings, including sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and India.

11 Jul 2012

Liver failure, cancer and mortality in cirrhotic patients coinfected with HIV/AIDS and HCV predicted by liver stiffness

Researchers from Spain established that liver stiffness, measured by transient elastography (TE), is an independent predictor of liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and mortality in cirrhotic patients coinfected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

10 Jul 2012

Hepatitis C levels higher among males and African Americans

Epidemiologists have determined that levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) found among injection drug users (IDUs) were higher in individuals who are male or African American even after differences in other factors were considered.

10 Jul 2012

Inovio commences SynCon vaccine phase I study in H1N1 influenza

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patients have been treated in a clinical trial evaluating immune responses in elderly adults immunized with Inovio's H1N1 SynCon universal influenza vaccine.

10 Jul 2012

Alcoholic hepatitis linked to hepatitis C risk

Hepatitis C virus is more common in patients with alcoholic hepatitis than the general population, but infections may be going undetected, US data show.

9 Jul 2012

Eltrombopag can raise blood cell levels in some people with severe aplastic anemia

Eltrombopag, a drug that was designed to stimulate production of platelets from the bone marrow and thereby improve blood clotting, can raise blood cell levels in some people with severe aplastic anemia who have failed all standard therapies.

5 Jul 2012

UN food standards body agrees on new regulations to protect health of consumers across the world

The UN food standards body has agreed on new regulations - including the maximum level of melamine in liquid milk formula for babies - to protect the health of consumers across the world. Other measures adopted include new food safety standards on seafood, melons, dried figs and food labelling.

5 Jul 2012

DKK1 boosts liver cancer diagnostic options

Measurement of the protein Dickkopf-1 in serum could be used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma, especially early disease, Chinese researchers report.

2 Jul 2012

Medivir, Bristol-Myers Squibb to initiate TMC435 and daclatasvir phase II combination study in HCV

Medivir AB, the research-based pharmaceutical company focused on the development of high-value treatments for infectious diseases, announces that a phase II combination study with the investigational compound TMC435 and Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational compound daclatasvir will start in July.

29 Jun 2012

AASLD, EASL to hold special conference on therapy of HCV

The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), together with the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), will be holding an exciting "Special Conference" dedicated to the timely topic of: Therapy of Hepatitis C: Clinical Application and Drug Development.

29 Jun 2012