Active clinical trials for "Hepatitis"

The purpose of this study is to determine whether short-term Atorvastatin can increase the immunity response to hepatitis B vaccination in vaccine Nonresponders.

The objective of the study is to evaluate the costs associated with peginterferon alfa-2b (PegIntron) plus ribavirin (Rebetol) treatment for chronic hepatitis C in the Czech Republic. Only costs associated with rescue medication, concomitant therapy, disease monitoring, and medical intervention costs recognized by the treating institution as treatment-related expenses will be included in the analysis. The study will also evaluate the correlation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy-related costs with ribavirin dosing and participant history.

Enrolled patients will be recruited to two parallel groups during therapy for Hepatitis C. Patients in the first one will receive a patient assistance program, and patients in the second group will not. All patients will receive PegIntron and Rebetol according to label.

Patients receiving a patient assistance program during therapy for Hepatitis C will be enrolled into this study. All patients will receive PegIntron pen and Rebetol according to label and the patient assistance program. This study will be compared to similar studies from other clinics using various patient support programs for the purpose of designing future comparative phase IV studies.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a leading cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver transplantation, affects approximately 170 million individuals worldwide. Combination of peginterferon plus ribavirin therapy has become the current standard of care for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, with an overall sustained virologic response (SVR) rate of 54-63% and more favorable response rates in patients with genotype 2/3 infection than those with genotype 1/4 infection. Therefore, accurate pre-treatment HCV genotype evaluation is of paramount importance to facilitate individualized therapy in the era of response guide therapy and specific-targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C). Currently, direct HCV genetic sequencing for both the 5' untranslated terminal region (5'UTR) and non-structural 5B (NS5B) regions with subsequent phylogenetic tree analysis is considered the gold standard for determining HCV genotype and subtype. However, it is time-consuming and need special laboratory settings. Several commercial available reverse hybridization with type-specific probing assay (Inno-LiPA II) or simplified direct sequencing of the 5'UTR region were used to replace the two region sequencing method (Trugene HCV 5' NC genotyping kit). Nonetheless, data on the overall diagnostic accuracy varied. The Abbott RealTime HCV Genotype II is an in vitro reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for determining the genotype(s) of HCV in plasma and serum from HCV-infected individuals. Based on genetic similarity, HCV has been classified into six major genotypes (1-6) and numerous subtypes. HCV genotype is predictive of the response of HCV-infected patients to peginterferon plus ribavirin combination therapy. The Abbott RealTime HCV Genotype II assay uses the Abbott m2000sp instrument for processing samples and the Abbott m2000rt instrument for amplification and detection. Furthermore, the Abbott m2000sp provides automated sample transfer and reaction assembly of the assay reagents in the Abbott 96-Well Optical Reaction Plate. The investigators aimed to evaluate the overall diagnostic accuracy of the currently available commercial HCV genotype kits (Abbott RealTime HCV Genotype II) by using 5'UTR and NS5A gene amplification and direct sequencing as the gold standard.

Hepatitis C viral infection is common among opioid addicts in Zurich, Switzerland. The majority undergoes a maintenance treatment with methadone, heroin or buprenorphine. While stabilized by an opioid maintenance treatment (OMT)chronic hepatitis C can be treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. As not sufficiently known, the results are comparable to the results of the treatment of nonaddicts. Our crossectional study investigates how many patients undergoing OMT are adequately investigated concerning hepatitis C. If not, why are they not adequately investigated and treated? Representative data are collected in the local clinics and medical practices involved in OMT in the Kanton of Zurich. The patients files are revised and the involved doctors are asked through a structured interview.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the sustained virologic response (RVS) in HVC patients treated with pegylated-interferon or conventional-interferon and ribavirin, and to investigate the associated factors with RVS, by means of retrospective analysis.

Description: The Manhattan HIV/Hepatology Brain Bank (MHBB) was established in 1998 as a resource for the AIDS research community. The MHBB was created to act as a center for the provision of pre- and post-mortem tissues and body fluids from HIV infected persons. It has recently expanded its goals to assist in the elucidation of liver disease-induced nervous system disorders. The MHBB is dedicated to improving the understanding of HIV and Hepatitis C and thereby, improving the lives of patients living with HIV and/or Hepatitis C. Participation is voluntary and can be stopped at any time. Benefits: This is an observational study; no experimental procedures, devices or drugs are used. All enrolled patients undergo regular examinations by physicians, nurses, and neuropsychologists who specialize in the problems that HIV and HCV can cause. Taking part in this study may result in the detection of brain, muscle, or spinal cord disease for which treatments may be available. Participants may receive no direct benefit from this study. However, knowledge gained from this research may, in the future, help others who suffer from HIV/AIDS and/or liver disease. Participants agree to autopsy and organ donation upon demise by signing an Anatomical Gift Consent document.

Hepatitis C and HIV infect worldwide millions of people leading to a high rate of coinfected patient with eventually liver cirrhosis and endstage liver disease. With the currently best available therapy (peginterferon and ribavirin) only less than 50% of patients with HCV genotype 1 will respond. Unknown is what factors determine this difference in treatment outcome. Probably virologic and immunologic factors play a major role. By investigating blood samples of HCV / HIV coinfected patients and HCV mono-infected patients we would like to examine both virologic and immunologic factors possibly responsible for this difference.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis can be caused by an infection with a virus, but poisonous (toxic) substances can also cause it. Researchers have identified several of the viruses responsible for hepatitis, however some patients with hepatitis show no evidence of being infected with known hepatitis viruses. Researchers call conditions like this, seronegative hepatitis. It means that a patient has hepatitis but he/she does not have evidence in their blood of a viral infection. Seronegative hepatitis is often complicated by autoimmune disorders and associated severe disorders especially, fulminant hepatitis of childhood and post-hepatitis aplastic anemia. Researchers have attempted to identify the cause of these conditions but have been unsuccessful. Therefore, this study was developed to collect blood and stool samples from patients with seronegative hepatitis in order to help identify the virus responsible.