Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination leads to both humoral and cellular immune responses and results in protecting levels of specific antibodies. The immune response to the vaccine and production of T-helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokines vary among the individuals. Thus we aimed to investigate the relationship between Th1/Th2 cytokine serum levels and antibody production after HBV vaccination, hoping to improve the effectiveness of vaccination. A total of 90 health care workers had been vaccinated with triple doses of HB vaccine at 0, 1, and 6 months intervals. Two months after the third dose, anti-HBs titer, interferon gamma (INF-γ), and interleukin (IL)-13 serum levels were measured. There were 16 low-responders (anti-HBs = 10-150 IU/L), 41 moderate-responders (anti-HBs> 150< 1000 IU/L), and 33 high-responders (anti-HBs = 1000 IU/L). IFN-γ and IL-13 serum levels showed significant positive correlation with anti-HBs titer. We concluded that, decreased serum level of IFN-γ (Th1 cytokine) and IL-13 (Th2 cytokine) was associated with diminished production of anti-HBs antibodies after HB vaccination, suggesting that IFN-γ and IL-13 could play a significant role in the immune response to HB vaccination and could be used as vaccine adjuvants.

Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a progressive disease that may result in chronic hepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis. Assessment of liver fibrosis is an essential factor in the management of chronic HCV. Objective: To evaluate plasma soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor (sU-PAR) and interleukin-34 (IL-34) as serological markers of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV. Methods: This case-control study enrolled 60 chronic HCV patients who were subdivided into three groups of mild, moderate and severe hepatic fibrosis depending on Fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4). Patients were compared with 20 age and sex-matched controls. Plasma sUPAR and IL-34 levels were measured by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: Plasma sUPAR and IL-34 were significantly increased in HCV patients when compared with controls, and their increase was positively correlated with the progression of hepatic fibrosis. Plasma sUPAR and IL-34 positively correlated with Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), and negatively correlated with hemoglobin concentration and platelet count. The output data of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve to differentiate patients from controls revealed that sU-PAR at cut-off > 186.2 ng/L and Area Under Curve (AUC) of 0.944 had (85%) sensitivity and (100%) specificity, and IL-34 at cut off > 16.4 ng/L and AUC of 0.942 had (75%) sensitivity and (100%) specificity. The output data of ROC curve to differentiate severe from mild to moderate hepatic fibrosis patients revealed that sUPAR at cut-off > 510 ng/L and AUC of 0.

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patients were malnourished. Plasma copeptin, proadrenomedullin, myeloperoxidase, protein, albumin, sodium and systemic blood pressure were not significantly different in each groups. Degrees of over-hydration were not different however, extracellular and intracellular fluid ratio (EI) were different in PD (p ¼ 0.03) and CKD-ND (p ¼ 0.12). EI were 1.08 vs. 0.94 for PD and 1.13 vs. 0.82 for CKD-ND. In pooled analysis, copeptin (0.44 6 0.28 vs 0.35 6 0.19, p ¼ 0.07) and EI (1.04 6 0.23 vs. 0.89 60.15, p ¼ 0.001) were different between malnutrition and normal group. CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition CKD patients showed higher EI ratio. Even though the overall degree of over-hydration was not different, malnourished CKD patient showed more extracellular fluid accumulation despite similar oncotic pressure (albumin, protein) and plasma osmolality (sodium). This study showed the possibility of causal rela