Helicobacter pullorum, recently described as sp. nov., is commonly isolated from asymptomatic poultry. Two cases of human enteritis associated with H. pullorum, one of them in an immunocompromised patient, are reported. Problems in the correct species identification by means of phenotypic and genotypic methods are discussed and for the first time a fatty acid pattern of Helicobacter pullorum is presented.

In the light of this first reported case of a serious CMV infection following therapy with anti-TNF- alpha antibodies, CMV infection should be considered in symptomatic patients.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/human immunodeficirency virus (HIV) coinfection poses a difficult therapeutic problem.Response to HCV-specific therapy is variable but might be influenced by host genetic factors, including polymorphisms of cytokine genes. Here, we studied whether interleukin-6 (IL-6) C174G gene polymorphism affects the response to antiviral treatment in HCV-infected HIV-positive subjects. We determined IL-6 genotypes in HIVpositive patients with acute (n ‫؍‬ 52) and chronic (n ‫؍‬ 60) hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon-␣. Two hundred ten HCV monoinfected, 197 HIV monoinfected, and 100 healthy individuals were studied as controls. Patients were classified into high and low producers according to IL-6 genotypes. Rates of sustained virological responses (SVRs) were compared between the IL-6 genotypes. Signal transducer and activator of transcription three phosphorylation was analyzed by Western blot in HCV core-transfected human hepatoma cell line (HUH7) cells. Distribution of IL-6 genotypes did not differ significantly between the study groups. SVR was achieved in 63% of HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Carriers of the IL-6 high producer (HP) genotype had significantly higher SVR rates than patients with an IL-6 low producer genotype (70.1% versus 52%; P < 0.002). This effect was seen in both HIV-positive patients with acute (74% versus 33%; P < 0.05) and chronic (66% versus 33%; P < 0.05) hepatitis C. Multivariate analysis confirmed IL-6 HP carriage as an independent positive predictor for SVR (Odds ratio 6.1; P ‫؍‬ 0.004). This effect corresponds to the in vitro observation that in HCV core-transfected HUH7 cells, IL-6 overcomes the HCV core-mediated inhibition of STAT3 activation. Conclusion: Response rates to HCV-specific treatment are higher in HCV/HIV-positive patients carrying the IL-6 HP genotype, which might be because of IL-6 mediated STAT3 activation. (HEPATOLOGY 2007;46:1016-1025.) Abbreviations: HCV, hepatitis C virus; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; interferon alpha; pegylated interferon alpha; SVR, sustained virological response. From the

Recently, a IL28B (rs 12979860) gene polymorphism was identified as a predictor for response to hepatitis C virus-specific treatment in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected and -infected patients with chronic hepatitis C. In an analysis of HIV-infected patients with acute hepatitis C, we found that the IL28B genotype was associated with serum levels of hepatitis C virus RNA, g-GT, and CD4 cell count. In contrast to HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C, the IL28B genotype was not significantly associated with treatment response rates in patients with acute hepatitis C. Thus, effects of the IL28B single-nucleotide polymorphism may differ in HIV-infected patients with chronic and acute hepatitis C.

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