Treatment of hepatitis B and C after liver transplantation. Part 2, hepatitis C

Abstract End-stage liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus is a major indication for liver transplantation. However, recurrence of hepatitis in the graft is a major issue. HCV re-infection after transplantation is almost constant, and recent data confirm that it significantly impairs patient and graft survival. Factors that may influence disease severity and consequent progression of HCV graft injury remain unclear. Chronic HCV infection develops in 60%–80% of patients, and 6%–28% ultimately progress to cirrhosis within 5 years. Pre-transplantation antiviral treatment is not easily related to poor tolerance. Attempts to administer prophylactic post-transplantation antiviral treatment are under evaluation but are limited by antiviral drug side effects. Treatment of established graft lesions with interferon or ribavirin as single agents has been disappointing. Combination therapy gave promising results, with sustained virological response in 25% of patients, but indications, modality and duration of treatment should be assessed.     

Mandibular displacement in Angle Class II, Division 2 malocclusion

The effect of the treatment of Angle Class II, Division 2 malocclusion was studied in 22 children by x-ray cephalometry and by recording the relation between the retruded and the intercuspal mandibular positions. The treatment was performed in three phases. In the first phase the upper incisors were proclined, and the deep bite was corrected with an upper removable plate. In the second phase the distal occlusion was corrected with an activator. The result was retained in the third phase with a second activator designed for retention. The relation between the retruded (RCP) and the intercuspal (ICP) mandibular positions was recorded with wax bites and dental casts mounted in a modified gnathothesiometer. The anteroposterior distance between RCP and ICP was large before the start of the treatment. The distance was unchanged after proclination of the upper incisors and correction of the deep bite but decreased after correction of the distal occlusion and increased again somewhat during the retention phase. The proclination of the upper incisors and the correction of the deep bite (phase one of the treatment) did not result in mandibular anterior positioning. This fact and the results of the recordings of the relation between RCP and ICP were interpreted as evidence that the mandible is not posteriorly displaced in Class II, Division 2 malocclusion.     

Treatment of hepatitis B and C after liver transplantation. Part 1, hepatitis B

Abstract The outcome of OLT for HBV-related liver disease is dependent on the prevention of allograft re-infection. Over the past decade, major advances have been made in the management of HBV transplant candidates. The advent of long-term hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) administration as a prophylaxis against HBV recurrence, and the introduction of new antiviral agents against HBV infection, such as lamivudine (LAM), were a major breakthrough in the management of these patients. Results of OLT for HBV infection are similar to those achieved with other indications. Pre-OLT antiviral treatment such as LAM can suppress HBV replication before OLT and thus decrease the risk of re-infection of the graft. Combination prophylaxis with LAM and HBIG after transplantation highly effectively reduces the rate of HBV re-infection, even in HBV replicative cirrhotic, patients. The optimal HBIG protocol in the LAM era is yet to be defined: dosing of HBIG, routes of administration, and possibility of stopping HBIG. Several antiviral drugs have been developed for the management of HBV infection on the graft, so outcome is currently good.     

Pathologic changes during acute Q fever: influence of the route of infection and inoculum size in infected guinea pigs.

As assessed by both standard histological staining and immunochemistry, intraperitoneal inoculation of C. burnetii in guinea pigs led to pathologic changes mainly in the liver, whereas intranasal inoculation led to pathologic changes mainly in the lungs. Myocarditis and positive blood cultures were observed only in those animals which received the highest inoculum. We therefore conclude that both the route of infection and the size of the inoculum influence clinical expression in acute Q fever.     

Phagolysosomes of Coxiella burnetii-infected cell lines maintain an acidic pH during persistent infection.

Coxiella burnetii, the agent of Q fever, is an obligate intracellular bacterium that multiples within vacuoles of phagolysosomal origin. Persistently infected cell lines were maintained in continuous culture for months. We studied the pH of the phagolysosomes by using two murine cell lines during early propagation of the bacteria and after establishment of persistent infection. Three strains of C. burnetii were studied because of the purported propensity of each strain to cause acute or chronic disease and to be resistant or susceptible to antibiotics. The pHs were calculated from fluorescence experiments with fluoresceinated dextran as a lysosomal probe. Phagolysosomal vacuoles maintained an acidic pH during a 36-day infection. Minimal variation of the pH occurred over the duration of the experiment with strains that caused either acute or chronic disease. Phagolysosomal pH remained stable for as long as 153 days with the Nine Mile phase II isolate. Thus, neither the course of C. burnetti infection nor the diversity of antibiotic susceptibility of the strains is related to variations in the phagolysosomal pH.