The findings support the association between hepatitis C infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The direction of association remains to be determined, however. Prospective studies with adequate sample sizes are recommended.

Findings show evidence on the association between extrapulmonary tuberculosis and HIV, based on case control studies. Further studies to understand the mechanisms of interaction of the two pathogens are recommended.

Detection of hepadnaviral DNA in extrahepatic tissues of human and animal models of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has raised the question of whether virus replication in organs other than the liver could be targeted for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Since duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) replication is dynamic in the liver, kidney, pancreas, and spleen of newly hatched ducklings infected in ovo, we used the duck model and the new antiherpesvirus agent, famciclovir (FCV), to determine whether antiviral effect of nucleoside analogues on DHBV replication is pluripotential. Day-old ducklings hatched from eggs laid by a DHBV-carrier duck were bled and administered FCV (25 mg/kg/bd) orally for periods of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 days. Seventeen (17) hours after the last dose of each regimen the duckling(s) was bled and postmortem samples of liver, kidney, pancreas, and spleen were snap-frozen and stored at -70 degrees C. Analysis of plasma samples of ducklings treated for 2 days and longer by dot-blot hybridisation showed that levels of DHBV DNA were reduced significantly compared to levels in samples collected before treatment begun. Southern blot hybridisation of tissue DNA corroborated these results and showed that DHBV DNA replicative intermediates in all the tissues examined were reduced to levels that reflected the amount of virus released into the blood of each treated duckling. It is concluded from these results that if antiviral agents could be transformed to active metabolites in any infected tissues including the liver, replication of hepadnaviruses would be inhibited.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

No abstract

SummaryFamciclovir (FCV) is the oral form of the potent and selective antiherpesvirus agent penciclovir (PCV). In order to provide more information on the spectrum of activity of PCV, the activities of FCV and PCV against duck hepatitis 8 virus (DH8V) in chronically infected ducks were examined. As part of this investigation, the oral pharmacokinetics of FCV and PCV were determined in ducks. Oral treatment of DH8V-infected ducks (twice daily for 21 days) with either PCV (20 mg kg-1 or 100 mg kg-1 ) or FCV (5 mg kg-1 or 25 mg kg-1 ) suppressed virus replication, as measured by both plasma viral DNA and DNA polymerase levels. Both markers were reduced to undetectable levels within 4 days of the start of treatment, and after the cessation of treatment there was a delay of 2 to 8 days before plasma DH8V DNA and DNA polymerase levels began to increase, indicating that virus replication had resumed. The demonstration of efficacy of PCV and its oral form FCV against DH8V suggested that the two compounds may have clinical benefits. against human hepatitis 8 virus. Clinical trials are currently ongoing.