High incidence of tuberculosis in patients treated for hepatitis C chronic infection.

Brazil is one of the 22 countries that concentrates 80% of global tuberculosis cases concomitantly to a large number of hepatitis C carriers and some epidemiological risk scenarios are coincident for both diseases. We analyzed tuberculosis cases that occurred during α-interferon-based therapy for hepatitis C in reference centers in Brazil between 2001 and 2012 and reviewed their medical records. Eighteen tuberculosis cases were observed in patients submitted to hepatitis C α-interferon-based therapy. All patients were human immunodeficiency virus-negative. Nine patients (50%) had extra-pulmonary tuberculosis; 15 (83%) showed significant liver fibrosis. Hepatitis C treatment was discontinued in 12 patients (67%) due to tuberculosis reactivation and six (33%) had sustained virological response. The majority of patients had a favorable outcome but one died. Considering the evidences of α-IFN interference over the containment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the immune impairment of cirrhotic patients, the increase of tuberculosis case reports during hepatitis C treatment with atypical and severe presentations and the negative impact on sustained virological response, we think these are strong arguments for latent tuberculosis infection screening before starting α-interferon-based therapy for any indication and even to consider IFN-free regimens against hepatitis C when a patient tests positive for latent tuberculosis infection.

Prevalence and pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer in chronic alcoholic pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of duodenal ulcer (DU) has been considered high in patients with chronic pancreatitis; however, its pathogenesis is unclear. We hypothesized that Helicobacter pylori infection plays the major pathogenetic role. STUDY: One hundred seven cases (97 men, 10 women) of chronic alcoholic pancreatitis (CAP) were prospectively investigated from 1997 to 2001. One hundred thirty-seven DU patients and 59 nonulcer dyspepsia patients formed the two control groups. Pancreatic function was evaluated by determination of fecal fat excretion and fasting blood glucose concentration. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in all patients, and gastric mucosal biopsies were taken for assessment of H. pylori infection with a modified Giemsa stain and rapid urease test. RESULTS: Fifteen (14%) of the 107 patients with CAP had active DU. There was a trend toward an association between the presence of diabetes mellitus and/or steatorrhea and the occurrence of DU in patients with CAP (p = 0.06). The rate of H. pylori infection was significantly higher in patients with CAP and DU than in those with only CAP (86.7% vs. 54.3%, p = 0.02) but the rate similar to that in patients with simple DU (75.2%). Trends toward higher prevalence of H. pylori infection in CAP with DU were noticed when they were compared with the nonulcer dyspepsia group (86.7% vs. 66.1%). There was no significant difference in prevalence of H. pylori between CAP patients without DU and dyspeptic patients (54.3% vs. 66.1%). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that the prevalence of DU in CAP is relatively high. H. pylori infection seems to play the major pathogenetic role in DU associated with CAP.