Partner treatment strategies for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: Time for a reappraisal.

Objectives: Epidemiological treatment for suspected Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections is recommended for exposed partners before laboratory confirmation, within 14 days of exposure to reduce symptoms, break transmission chains, and prevent loss of follow-up. This approach may lead to potential antibiotic overuse by uninfected individuals, thereby enhancing antimicrobial resistance. This study investigated the accuracy of epidemiological treatment for CT and NG.

Treatment with bulevirtide in HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis D: ANRS HD EP01 BuleDelta and compassionate cohort.

Background & Aims: In France, bulevirtide (BLV) became available in September 2019 through an early access program to treat patients with HDV. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BLV in patients with HIV and HDV coinfection.

Methods: Patients received BLV 2 mg ± pegylated interferon-α (pegIFNα) according to the physician's decision.

ANGPTL4 is a potential driver of HCV-induced peripheral insulin resistance.

Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with the development of metabolic disorders, including both hepatic and extra-hepatic insulin resistance (IR). Here, we aimed at identifying liver-derived factor(s) potentially inducing peripheral IR and uncovering the mechanisms whereby HCV can regulate the action of these factors. We found ANGPTL4 (Angiopoietin Like 4) mRNA expression levels to positively correlate with HCV RNA (r = 0.

Hepatitis D virus interferes with hepatitis B virus RNA production via interferon-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

Background & Aims: Chronic coinfection with HBV and HDV leads to the most aggressive form of chronic viral hepatitis. Herein, we aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the widely reported observation that HDV interferes with HBV in most coinfected patients.

Methods: Patient liver tissues, primary human hepatocytes, HepaRG cells and human liver chimeric mice were used to analyze the effect of HDV on HBV using virological and RNA-sequencing analyses, as well as RNA synthesis, stability and association assays.

Evaluation of commercial Anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody assays in seropositive subjects.

The virus neutralization test (VNT) is the reference for the assessment of the functional ability of neutralizing antibodies (NAb) to block SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells. New competitive immunoassays measuring antibodies preventing interaction between the spike protein and its cellular receptor are proposed as surrogate VNT (sVNT). We tested three commercial sVNT (a qualitative immunochromatographic test and two quantitative immunoassays named YHLO and TECO) together with a conventional anti-spike IgG assay (bioMérieux) in comparison with an in-house plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) using the original 19A strain and different variants of concern (VOC), on a panel of 306 sera from naturally-infected or vaccinated patients.

Inducers of the NF-κB pathways impair hepatitis delta virus replication and strongly decrease progeny infectivity .

Background & Aims: HDV superinfection of chronically HBV-infected patients is the most aggressive form of chronic viral hepatitis, with an accelerated progression towards fibrosis/cirrhosis and increased risk of liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death. While HDV infection is not susceptible to available direct anti-HBV drugs, suboptimal responses are obtained with interferon-α-based therapies, and the number of investigational drugs remains limited. We therefore analyzed the effect of several innate immune stimulators on HDV replication in infected hepatocytes.

Specific detection of memory T-cells in COVID-19 patients using standardized whole-blood Interferon gammarelease assay.

Antigen-specific T-cells are essential for protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. We set up a semi-automated whole-blood Interferon-gamma release assay (WB IGRA) to monitor the T-cell response after stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 peptide pools. We report that the WB IGRA is complementary to serological assays to assess SARS-CoV-2 immunity.

Sexually transmitted infections knowledge in different populations attending a French University Hospital - A prospective observational study.

We conducted a prospective study about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) knowledge in different populations attending Lyon's University Hospitals in order to estimate awareness on STIs. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-users (PrEP group), persons living with HIV (PLWH group) and persons undergoing free STI screening (screening group) filled an anonymous questionnaire evaluating STI knowledge. A composite STI knowledge score was calculated and was correlated with patients’ characteristics.

Chronic hepatitis D and hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background & Aims: Chronic hepatitis D (CHD) is the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis but its role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains debated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies to examine whether CHD is associated with an increased risk of HCC.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, as well as study references and conference proceedings.

A review on hepatitis D: From virology to new therapies.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective virus that requires the hepatitis B virus (HBV) to complete its life cycle in human hepatocytes. HDV virions contain an envelope incorporating HBV surface antigen protein and a ribonucleoprotein containing the viral circular single-stranded RNA genome associated with both forms of hepatitis delta antigen, the only viral encoded protein. Replication is mediated by the host cell DNA-dependent RNA polymerases.

[Hepatitis delta virus replication and the role of the small hepatitis delta protein S-HDAg].

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a mammalian defective virus. Its genome is a small single-stranded circular RNA of approximately 1,680 nucleotides. To spread, HDV relies on hepatitis B virus envelope proteins that are needed for viral particle assembly and egress.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus infections in the Central African Republic, twenty-five years after a fulminant hepatitis outbreak, indicate continuing spread in asymptomatic young adults.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) increases morbidity in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. In the mid-eighties, an outbreak of HDV fulminant hepatitis (FH) in the Central African Republic (CAR) killed 88% of patients hospitalized in Bangui. We evaluated infections with HBV and HDV among students and pregnant women, 25 years after the fulminant hepatitis (FH) outbreak to determine (i) the prevalence of HBV and HDV infection in this population, (ii) the clinical risk factors for HBV and/or HDV infections, and (iii) to characterize and compare the strains from the FH outbreak in the 1980s to the 2010 HBV-HDV strains.

[Hepatitis delta: Clinical aspects and therapeutic perspectives].

HDV prevalence must not be disregarded, as the virus is associated with a higher severity of hepatic disease. All HBV carriers should be tested for HDV as well, at least once during the disease history, and in case of worsening of a chronic HBV hepatitis. Diagnosis should rely on anti-HDV antibody testing, and confirmed by HDV RNA detection and quantification by RT-qPCR.

HDV RNA replication is associated with HBV repression and interferon-stimulated genes induction in super-infected hepatocytes.

Hepatitis D virus (HDV) super-infection of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients is the most aggressive form of viral hepatitis. HDV infection is not susceptible to direct anti-HBV drugs, and only suboptimal antiviral responses are obtained with interferon (IFN)-alpha-based therapy. To get insights on HDV replication and interplay with HBV in physiologically relevant hepatocytes, differentiated HepaRG (dHepaRG) cells, previously infected or not with HBV, were infected with HDV, and viral markers were extensively analyzed.

Hepatitis delta virus: From biological and medical aspects to current and investigational therapeutic options.

An estimated 15-20 million individuals are co-infected by hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus worldwide and are at high risk of developing end-stage liver disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma. While HBV viremia can now be controlled in the vast majority of individuals by nucleoside analogs, leading to a delay of disease progression, HDV treatment has for long relied on the relatively inefficient and not well-tolerated interferon-alpha. While the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the disease remain to be precisely determined, using adequate diagnostic tools and well-designed cohort studies, basic research efforts have led to interesting progress in the understanding of HDV biology, which is not yet sufficient to identify specific antiviral targets.