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March 30, 2006

Ability to Culture Hepatitis C Virus Leads to Research Advancements

By overcoming the difficulties of culturing live HCV, scientists are now capable of studying the virus more closely. We anticipate this progress will open the door to hepatitis C treatment and prevention.

Researchers show laboratory hepatitis C strain is also infectious in animal models
27 March 2006
Rockefeller University Newswire

An important step in developing a treatment for viral diseases is for scientists to culture live viruses from infected patients, but the hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major cause of chronic and sometimes fatal liver disease, has proven to be particularly wily. For many years scientists have struggled with an inability to efficiently culture HCV in the laboratory. Now, researchers at Rockefeller University have overcome several obstacles and successfully shown that a strain of HCV they created in the laboratory, which can efficiently be cultured in vitro, is also infectious in animals. The findings, reported in the March 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will enable scientists to study the life cycle of HCV at the molecular level and develop better treatments for this disease.

The researchers, led by Brett Lindenbach at Rockefeller and Philip Meuleman at Ghent University in Belgium, used a cell-culture version of HCV, developed by Lindenbach and colleagues at Rockefeller, called HCVcc. HCVcc, which was the first infectious cell-culture version of hepatitis C, was used to infect two chimpanzees as well as mice bearing human liver grafts. The researchers found that in both the chimpanzees and the mice, hepatitis C infection lasted for as long as 15 weeks. Also, the infections raised in the mice could be passed to other mice. Samples of the test tube-cultured strain could be recovered from infected animals and was easily recultured in vitro, unlike most other strains of HCV isolated from infected animals or people.

“The ability to study a genetically defined virus in the test tube and in living animals allows us to completely dissect the HCV life cycle,” says senior author Charles Rice, Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor and head of the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease at Rockefeller.

The chimpanzees, which are housed at the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, were previously used for studies of HIV and other strains of hepatitis, and were not infected with HCV before being inoculated with HCVcc. The mouse experiments, which took place at Ghent University, involved a strain of mice called uPA-SCID, which lack an immune system and mimic the liver failure that can accompany chronic hepatitis C infection in people.

In addition, the researchers found that the virus recovered from the experimentally infected animals had a higher infectivity than the original HCVcc. They also found that virus particles with a lower buoyant density — a measure of how well they float — had increased infectivity, suggesting that differences in the physical properties of the viruses grown in vitro and in vivo are important for biological activity.

These results show that it should be possible to culture HCV from clinical samples and provide a useful positive control to help isolate additional strains that grow in cell culture, Lindenbach and Rice say.

Posted by Editors at 03:42 PM --- Printer-friendly version

March 28, 2006

Herbal Components are Beneficial in Treating Cirrhosis

An Iranian research study recently concluded that the herbal components of Liv.52 are beneficial in the treatment of cirrhotic patients. The six-month study demonstrated that patients treated with Liv.52 showed better test results than those treated with placebo.

The efficacy of Liv.52 on liver cirrhotic patients: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled first approach.
15 September 2005

Cirrhosis is the irreversible sequel of various disorders that damage liver cells permanently over time. Presently, the use of herbal medicines for prevention and control of chronic liver diseases is in the focus of attention for both the physicians and the patients; the reasons for such shift toward the use of herbals include the expensive cost of conventional drugs, adverse drug reactions, and their inefficacy. In the present study, the efficacy of herbal medicine Liv-52 (consisting of Mandur basma, Tamarix gallica and herbal extracts of Capparis spinosa, Cichorium intybus, Solanum nigrum, Terminalia arjuna and Achillea millefolium) on liver cirrhosis outcomes was compared with the placebo for 6 months in 36 cirrhotic patients referred to Tehran Hepatic Center. The outcome measures included child-pugh score, ascites, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total billirubin, albumin, prothrombin time, platelet and white blood cells counts. The indices were recorded in all patients before and after 6 months of drug or placebo treatment. The results demonstrated that the patients treated with Liv-52 for 6 months had significantly better child-pugh score, decreased ascites, decreased serum ALT and AST. In placebo administered patients all the clinical parameters recorded at beginning of the study were not significantly different than after 6 months. We conclude that Liv-52 possess hepatoprotective effect in cirrhotic patients. This protective effect of Liv-52 can be attributed to the diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and immunomodulating properties of the component herbs.

More information about Liv.52 can be found at http://www.liversupport.com.

Abstract: “The efficacy of Liv.52 on liver cirrhotic patients: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled first approach,” H. Fallah Huseini, S.M. Alavian, R. Heshmat, M.R. Heydari and K. Abolmaali, Phytomedicine; 12:9; September 2005 (DOI:10.1016/j.phymed.2004.10.003)

Posted by Editors at 12:35 PM --- Printer-friendly version

Rally for Hepatitis Awareness

The Hepatitis C Movement for Awareness (HMA) is once again planning a march in Washington DC to promote the need for an awareness campaign. See how you can take part even if you cannot join the march to the White House.

Liver Organizations, Activist, Families & Support Groups Are Making Plans for May 2006, National Hepatitis C Awareness Month.

Join the Hepatitis C Movement for Awareness during their fifth annual "Weekend for Awareness" beginning May 24, 2006 in Washington D.C. Promoting the need for a General Awareness campaign, HMA and other organizations will "March Across America." Groups and individuals who cannot make the event in our nation's capital are scheduling marches in their hometowns to rally local governments to inform citizens of the risk to their communities.

HEPATITIS C AWARENESS TO "MARCH ACROSS AMERICA"

Monday, March 6, 2006
Contact: HMA Press Office, 540-248-7324

WASHINGTON, DC– Hepatitis C Movement for Awareness (HMA) is once again hosting the Fifth Annual, "Weekend for Awareness," with a new twist this year. Joining HMA, other groups and organizations will "March Across America," promoting the need for a General Awareness Campaign.

In recognition of "Hepatitis C Awareness Month," individuals and groups that can't make the DC event, are scheduling a march in their own hometown. Most will rally on local government to inform about the risk to communities. Groups interested in participating can visit this link to sign up. The Movement provides pamphlets that volunteers can print out, which include a voucher for a free in home test kit.
http://www.march-on-dc.com/National/News/2006/LocalMarch.asp

Dubbed "The National Event," held in DC, begins Wednesday, May 24. The first two days, local State teams will unite on Capital Hill, with scheduled appointments. This is followed by a "Kick Off" Rally and Silent Auction, Thursday evening. The March begins Friday, 10 AM, with plans to step off at 11:30. Participants will gather at Lafayette Park, across from the White House. There will be guest speakers from the Hepatitis C community. More information will follow.

Saturday is "National Testing Day"; a free day for enjoying the National Memorial activities. Services including parades and entertainment, Many volunteers will converge on the National Mall, distributing HMA's pamphlets and vouchers. Events will end with a candlelight vigil that evening in memory of the 10,000 former Military Veterans that died last year because of Hepatitis C.

HEPATITIS C is viral infection of the blood, with almost 6 million Americans infected. It can lead to permanent problems, cirrhosis and organ failure. Only 20% know they have the infection. The only means to prevent it is through awareness, testing, and a "General Education Campaign." There is no vaccine.

As the leading epidemic in the world and the number one cause of liver transplants in the United States, organizers want the message clear; "Our primary mission is to alert the public to the many ways the virus is spread while encouraging people to get tested." Especially minorities and those with military backgrounds, most affected. Please come out and support a true effort for federal and state responses to this epidemic.

For more information and get a copy of the "Are You At Risk" pamphlet with a test kit voucher visit: http://www.march-on-dc.com/

Posted by Editors at 12:29 PM --- Printer-friendly version