Article
Virology
Bonolo B. Phinius, Motswedi Anderson, Margaret Mokomane, Irene Gobe, Wonderful T. Choga, Tsholofelo Ratsoma, Basetsana Phakedi, Gorata Mpebe, Doreen Ditshwanelo, Rosemary Musonda, Joseph Makhema, Sikhulile Moyo, Simani Gaseitsiwe
Summary: A high prevalence of an atypical serology profile for hepatitis B virus (HBV) was found among people with HIV-1 in Botswana. This suggests that current HBV testing algorithms may underestimate the prevalence of HBV.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Takanori Suzuki, Takako Inoue, Kentaro Matsuura, Shigeru Kusumoto, Shinya Hagiwara, Shintaro Ogawa, Shintaro Yagi, Atsushi Kaneko, Kei Fujiwara, Takehisa Watanabe, Katsumi Aoyagi, Yukitomo Urata, Akihiro Tamori, Hiromi Kataoka, Yasuhito Tanaka
Summary: This study evaluated the efficacy of a novel hepatitis B core-related antigen assay (iTACT-HBcrAg) in diagnosing HBV reactivation in a multi-center setting. The results showed that iTACT-HBcrAg had a high sensitivity for early detection of HBV reactivation, making it a valuable tool for initiating nucleos(t)ide analogue treatment.
JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jun Li, Zhao Wu, Gui-Qiang Wang, Hong Zhao
Summary: The study revealed correlations between HBcrAg and antiviral efficacy, virological, and histological variables in chronic hepatitis B patients, with a decreased HBcrAg predicting HBeAg loss after antiviral therapy.
CHINESE MEDICAL JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Virology
Danny Ka-Ho Wong, Takako Inoue, Lung-Yi Mak, Rex Wan-Hin Hui, James Fung, Ka-Shing Cheung, Wai-Kay Seto, Yasuhito Tanaka, Man-Fung Yuen
Summary: This study evaluated the usefulness of two novel assays, the iTACT-HBsAg and iTACT-HBcrAg assays, in CHB patients with HBsAg seroclearance (SC). The results showed that over 70% of patients still had a low level of HBV protein expression even at 10 years after SC, indicating that CHB patients with SC still harbor a low level of HBV. Further investigations are needed to determine the clinical significance of detectable viral proteins after SC.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Takehisa Watanabe, Takako Inoue, Yasuhito Tanaka
Summary: The hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is a novel biomarker that reflects covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). It can be detected even when serum HBV DNA is undetectable during anti-HBV therapy. Monitoring HBcrAg levels can help predict disease progression and treatment response in CHB patients.
Review
Immunology
Amir M. Mohareb, Anne F. Liu, Arthur Y. Kim, Patrick A. Coffie, Menan Gerard Kouame, Kenneth A. Freedberg, Anders Boyd, Emily P. Hyle
Summary: Spontaneous loss of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) occurs at a rate of 6.46/100 person-years (PYs) among untreated individuals with chronic HBV. The incidence rate of spontaneous HBeAg loss varies by age and geographic region.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Han Ah Lee, Hyun Woong Lee, Younhee Park, Hyon-Suk Kim, Yeon Seok Seo
Summary: The level of HBcrAg is important in predicting the clinical phase and NA-induced HBeAg seroconversion in patients with CHB.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Takako Inoue, Takeshi Matsui, Yasuhito Tanaka
Summary: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation can occur under systemic chemotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy, necessitating screening tests before therapy. Recent advancements in highly sensitive biomarkers have enabled early diagnosis of HBV reactivation.
HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Takako Inoue, Shigeru Kusumoto, Etsuko Iio, Shintaro Ogawa, Takanori Suzuki, Shintaro Yagi, Atsushi Kaneko, Kentaro Matsuura, Katsumi Aoyagi, Yasuhito Tanaka
Summary: A fully automated, novel high-sensitivity hepatitis B core-related antigen assay (iTACT-HBcrAg) has been developed for monitoring chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and for the early detection of HBV reactivation. The clinical performance of iTACT-HBcrAg was compared with other HBV markers, showing satisfactory analytical performance and potential as a general marker of disease progression and treatment response.
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Shinya Hagiwara, Shigeru Kusumoto, Takako Inoue, Shintaro Ogawa, Tomoko Narita, Asahi Ito, Masaki Ri, Hirokazu Komatsu, Takanori Suzuki, Kentaro Matsuura, Shintaro Yagi, Atsushi Kaneko, Katsumi Aoyagi, Shinsuke Iida, Yasuhito Tanaka
Summary: Through the study of patients with resolved HBV infection after nucleos(t)ide analog treatment for HBV reactivation, it was found that iTACT-HBcrAg could be a potential surrogate marker for diagnosing early-stage HBV reactivation as well as safe cessation of NA treatment.
HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Virology
Goki Suda, Masaru Baba, Yoshiya Yamamoto, Takuya Sho, Koji Ogawa, Megumi Kimura, Shunichi Hosoda, Sonoe Yoshida, Akinori Kubo, Qingjie Fu, Zijian Yang, Yoshimasa Tokuchi, Takashi Kitagataya, Osamu Maehara, Shunsuke Ohnishi, Ren Yamada, Masatsugu Ohara, Naoki Kawagishi, Mitsuteru Natsuizaka, Masato Nakai, Kenichi Morikawa, Ken Furuya, Kazuharu Suzuki, Takaaki Izumi, Takashi Meguro, Katsumi Terashita, Jun Ito, Tomoe Kobayashi, Izumi Tsunematsu, Naoya Sakamoto
Summary: This multicenter prospective study found that TAF could effectively prevent HBV reactivation and HBV reactivation-related hepatitis. No patients experienced HBV reactivation, HBV reactivation-related hepatitis, or treatment discontinuation due to HBV reactivation or adverse events of TAF after 6 and 12 months.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Christoph Schultheiss, Donjete Simnica, Edith Willscher, Anna Oberle, Lorenzo Fanchi, Nicola Bonzanni, Nils H. Wildner, Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch, Christina Weiler-Normann, Ansgar W. Lohse, Mascha Binder
Summary: Patients with autoimmune hepatitis exhibit significant and persistent T-cell architectural changes, which may explain the high relapse rates after tapering immunosuppression. Liver T-cell clusters shared between patients may mediate liver damage and require further study.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Lung-Yi Mak, Danny Wong, Alison Kuchta, Martina Hilfiker, Aaron Hamilton, Ning Chow, XianHua Mao, Wai Kay Seto, Man-Fung Yuen
Summary: This study investigated the dynamics of serum HBV pre-genomic RNA (pgRNA) and hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) in patients receiving nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) and their predictability for favourable suppression of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The results showed that early on-treatment changes of serum HBV pgRNA and HBcrAg at 4 weeks can predict HBsAg seroclearance or <100 IU/mL in NA-treated CHB patients upon long-term follow-up.
CLINICAL AND MOLECULAR HEPATOLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Tarana Gupta
Summary: Different serological and virological markers in chronic hepatitis B patients guide staging of viral infection and therapy response. Persistence of intrahepatic cccDNA indicates the incurability of hepatitis B. HBcrAg levels can predict hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion during antiviral therapy. However, the long-term utility of HBcrAg needs further research due to assay limitations and detectable levels in HBsAg-negative patients.
WORLD JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Kota Tsuruya, Kazuya Anzai, Shunsuke Shioyama, Ayano Ito, Yoshitaka Arase, Shunji Hirose, Yasuhito Tanaka, Hidekazu Suzuki, Tatehiro Kagawa
Summary: A 71-year-old man with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia experienced hepatitis B virus reactivation after initiating ibrutinib therapy, despite being negative for HBsAg. Treatment with entecavir and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate eventually led to an undetectable level of HBV-DNA and normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels. The patient remained negative for HBsAg throughout the clinical course due to triple HBsAg escape mutations.
HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Infectious Diseases
Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Juan M. Pericas, Maria Buti
Summary: This review summarizes the importance of HBV markers in the natural history of hepatitis B infection and predicting clinical and treatment outcomes. It includes data on classic markers like HBV-DNA, as well as newer markers such as quantitative HBsAg, HBcrAg, HBV-RNA, and quantitative anti-HBc, showing their usefulness in predicting events and treatment responses. Evidence on newer therapeutic agents like capsid assembly modulators or small interference RNAs is promising but still limited.
CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION
(2022)
Article
Surgery
Constantino Fernandez Rivera, Maria Calvo Rodriguez, Jose Luis Poveda, Julio Pascual, Marta Crespo, Gonzalo Gomez, Sheila Cabello Pelegrin, Javier Paul, Ricardo Lauzurica, Monica Perez Mir, Francesc Moreso, Manel Perello, Amado Andres, Esther Gonzalez, Ana Fernandez, Alicia Mendiluce, Beatriz Fernandez Carbajo, Ana Sanchez Fructuoso, Natividad Calvo, Alejandro Suarez, Gabriel Bernal Blanco, Antonio Osuna, M. Carmen Ruiz-Fuentes, Edoardo Melilli, Nuria Montero Perez, Ana Ramos, Beatriz Fernandez, Veronica Lopez, Domingo Hernandez
Summary: In a multicenter, prospective observational study, once-daily tacrolimus formulations were compared in de novo kidney transplant recipients. The LCPT group showed higher relative bioavailability than PR-Tac, with similar effectiveness in preventing rejection and comparable effects on renal function, safety, adherence, treatment failure, and discontinuation rates.
CLINICAL TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Article
Transplantation
Maartje F. A. Verploegen, Rosa Vargas-Poussou, Stephen B. Walsh, Harika Alpay, Atefeh Amouzegar, Gema Ariceta, Bahriye Atmis, Justine Bacchetta, Peter Barany, Stephanie Baron, Umut Selda Bayrakci, Hendrica Belge, Martine Besouw, Anne Blanchard, Arend Bokenkamp, Olivia Boyer, Kathrin Burgmaier, Lorenzo A. Calo, Stephane Decramer, Olivier Devuyst, Maria van Dyck, Pietro Manuel Ferraro, Marc Fila, Telma Francisco, Gian Marco Ghiggeri, Leire Gondra, Stefano Guarino, Nakysa Hooman, Ewout J. Hoorn, Pascal Houillier, Konstantinos Kamperis, Jameela A. Kari, Martin Konrad, Elena Levtchenko, Laura Lucchetti, Francesca Lugani, Pierluigi Marzuillo, Barian Mohidin, Thomas J. Neuhaus, Abdaldafae Osman, Svetlana Papizh, Manel Perello, Maarten B. Rookmaaker, Valerie Said Conti, Fernando Santos, Ghalia Sawaf, Erkin Serdaroglu, Maria Szczepanska, Francesca Taroni, Rezan Topaloglu, Francesco Trepiccione, Enrico Vidal, Elizabeth R. Wan, Lutz Weber, Zeynep Yuruk Yildirim, Selcuk Yuksel, Galia Zlatanova, Detlef Bockenhauer, Francesco Emma, Tom Nijenhuis
Summary: This study evaluated PTH and phosphate homeostasis in a large cohort of patients with salt-losing tubulopathies. The results showed that hyperparathyroidism is frequent in patients with Bartter syndrome type I and II, while low serum phosphate is observed in a significant number of patients with Bartter and Gitelman syndrome and appears to be associated with renal phosphate wasting.
NEPHROLOGY DIALYSIS TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Article
Virology
Beatriz Pacin-Ruiz, Maria Francesca Cortese, David Tabernero, Sara Sopena, Josep Gregori, Selene Garcia-Garcia, Rosario Casillas, Adrian Najarro, Unai Aldama, Adriana Palom, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Anna Galan, Marta Vila, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Josep Quer, Gloria Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza, Maria Buti, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias
Summary: This study used next-generation sequencing to analyze the ribozyme quasispecies of hepatitis delta virus (HDV). The ribozyme was found to be highly conserved overall, with a hyper-conserved region between nucleotides 715-745. Several mutations were observed, with the deletion of C64 showing a strong impact on HDV replication. The findings suggest that the conserved region of the ribozyme could be a potential target for gene-silencing strategies.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Ana Barreira-Diaz, Ana Callejo-Perez, Eva Munoz-Couselo, Nely Diaz-Mejia, Alvaro Diaz-Gonzalez, Maria-Carlota Londono, Maria-Teresa Salcedo, Maria Buti
Summary: In this study, the researchers conducted a prospective study on 23 patients with severe immune-related hepatitis. The results showed that in 65% of the patients, there was no recurrence of the hepatitis after receiving immunotherapy.
CLINICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Adriana Palom, Maria Buti
Summary: This article is related to the papers by Jachs et al.
ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Sheila Bermejo, Monica Bolufer, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Maria Jose Soler
Summary: New targeted cancer therapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have shown to improve survival in metastatic cancer patients. However, ICIs can lead to immune-mediated toxicities in various organs, including the kidney. This review aims to summarize the literature on kidney disease patients receiving cancer immunotherapy, specifically focusing on acute kidney injury, dialysis patients, and kidney transplant recipients.
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Joan Martinez-Camprecios, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Raquel Munoz-Gomez, Maria-Carlota Londono, Merce Roget, Miguel angel Serra, Desamparados Escudero-Garcia, Laura Purchades, Manuel Rodriguez, Juan E. Losa-Garcia, Maria L. Gutierrez, Isabel Carmona, Javier Garcia-Samaniego, Luis Morano, Ignacio Martin-Granizo, Marta Montero-Alonso, Martin Prieto, Manuel Delgado, Natalia Ramos, Maria A. Azancot, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Maria Buti
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term mortality, morbidity, and hepatic/renal function outcomes in CKD patients with HCV infection treated with DAAs. The results showed that despite HCV cure, long-term mortality remained high among end-stage CKD patients, with no improvement in renal function observed and a high proportion of patients requiring kidney transplantation. However, in CKD stage 3b-4 patients, HCV cure may play a positive role in renal function.
GASTROENTEROLOGIA Y HEPATOLOGIA
(2023)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Alvaro Diaz-Gonzalez, Manuel Hernandez-Guerra, Indhira Perez-Medrano, Victor Sapena, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Ana Barreira-Diaz, Elena Gomez, Rosa M. Morillas, Maria Del Barrio, Laia Escude, Beatriz Mateos, Diana Horta, Judith Gomez, Isabel Conde, Carlos Ferre-Aracil, Ismael El Hajra, Ana Arencibia, Javier Zamora, Ainhoa Fernandez, Magdalena Salcedo, Esther Molina, Anna Soria, Pamela Estevez, Carmen Lopez, Carmen Alvarez-Navascues, Montserrat Garcia-Retortillo, Javier Crespo, Maria-Carlota Londono
Summary: For non-severe AIH patients, both prednisone and budesonide can be used as first-line treatment options. However, this study found that budesonide is less commonly used and is inferior to prednisone in terms of efficacy, although it has fewer side effects.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Josep Gregori, Sergi Colomer-Castell, Carolina Campos, Marta Ibanez-Lligona, Damir Garcia-Cehic, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Caroline Melanie Adombie, Rosa Pinto, Susanna Guix, Albert Bosch, Esteban Domingo, Isabel Gallego, Celia Perales, Maria Francesca Cortese, David Tabernero, Maria Buti, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Juan Ignacio Esteban, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Josep Quer
Summary: This study presents a method to partition quasispecies haplotypes into four fractions based on their fitness and uses diversity indices to analyze the molecular changes in the composition of a quasispecies over time. The results suggest that mutagenic antiviral treatment can lead to the selection of a diverse set of synonymous haplotypes, while a prevalent master phenotype is observed at the protein level. This observation may have implications for mutagenic antiviral treatment.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Ana Barreira Diaz, Ariadna Rando, Anna Feliu-Prius, Adriana Palom, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Elena Vargas-Accarino, Judit Vico-Romero, Nieves Palomo, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Rafael Esteban, Maria Buti
Summary: The project aims to evaluate the performance of a programme designed to achieve appropriate linkage to specialist care of HBsAg-positive individuals.
Article
Microbiology
Maria Costafreda, Silvia Sauleda, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Angie Rico, Meritxell Llorens-Revull, Susana Guix, Rosa M. Pinto, Albert Bosch, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Ariadna Rando, Maria Piron, Marta Bes
Summary: Different outcomes of HEV infection are associated with specific dysregulation of microRNAs, which can serve as biomarkers for HEV infection outcomes and contribute to improving the clinical management of hepatitis E patients. This study provides new insights into HEV pathogenesis and potential targets for antiviral treatments.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Editorial Material
Medicine, General & Internal
Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Enriqueta Felip, Maria E. Suarez-Almazor
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Virology
Adriana Palom, Edurne Almandoz, Antonio Madejon, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Ylenia Perez-Castano, Judit Vico, Sara Gandara, Naranbaatar Battulga, Jordi Gomez-I-Prat, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Juan Arenas Ruiz-Tapiador, Javier Garcia-Samaniego, Maria Buti
Summary: The study aimed to raise awareness of viral hepatitis among the Mongolian community in Spain and promote screening. Through a community program, including education, questionnaire, and testing, 222 Mongolians attended and 13 were found to be HCV-positive and 8 were HBsAg-positive.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Adriana Palom, Ariadna Rando-Segura, Judit Vico, Beatriz Pacin, Elena Vargas, Ana Barreira-Diaz, Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Mar Riveiro-Barciela, Rafael Esteban, Maria Buti
Summary: Implementation of reflex anti-HDV testing in HBsAg-positive individuals significantly increases the diagnosis rate of chronic hepatitis D infection. A large percentage of HBsAg-positive individuals had not undergone anti-HDV testing before reflex testing was established.