Iatrogenic GB virus C/hepatitis G virus infection in an area endemic for hepatitis C virus.

GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) is reported to be transmitted by blood products. This study reports infection with GBV-C/HGV from Area-O of town T, an area of high prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). Four hundred and thirty-five inhabitants of Area-O in town T were examined. Three hundred and forty-three inhabitants of Area-H in town T (where differences of age or sex are not markedly different to Area-O) were studied as controls. We investigated the virus markers and conducted a survey of life history in both areas. The seroprevalence of anti-HCV and GBV-C/HGV markers in Area-O was 17.7% and 11.7%, significantly higher than in Area-H (1.5% and 4.4%). The prevalence of GBV-C/HGV markers was significantly higher in the anti-HCV-positive group than in the sero-negative group. Anti-HCV- or GBV-C/HGV positive subjects tended to have a history of intravenous medications at hospital C in town T, suggesting iatrogenic infection through insufficient sterilization of needles and/or syringes.

A Japanese case of ulcerative colitis associated with dermatitis herpetiformis and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

: A number of extraintestinal complications of ulcerative colitis have been described. However, only a few cases of ulcerative colitis associated with dermatitis herpetiformis have been documented. We report a case of ulcerative colitis associated with dermatitis herpetiformis and primary sclerosing cholangitis in a Japanese woman. The patient first developed exanthema on the extremities at the age of 18 years. Subsequently, her skin disease was diagnosed as dermatitis herpetiformis with linear IgA deposits at the dermoepidermal junction. A biopsy specimen from the jejunum did not show villous atrophy. Subsequently, she was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis at age 34 years, and with ulcerative colitis 2 years later. The patient died of hepatic failure at age 40 years. Bile duct cancer was found at autopsy. Both dermatitis herpetiformis and primary sclerosing cholangitis are diseases of the immune system that are associated with HLA-B8 and -DR3 in whites. Our patient had neither of these serotypes. The immune mechanisms involved in the extraintestinal complications of inflammatory bowel disease are briefly discussed.

[Studies of microtubule associated proteins in the liver--isolation of a 210 kDa microtubule associated protein from rabbit liver].

The biochemical characteristics and cellular localization of microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) were studied using rabbit liver. The MAPs fraction, isolated from rabbit liver crude extract by a modification of Vallee's method, consisted of several proteins, as identified by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The most prominent of these was a 210 kDa protein (rabbit 210 kDa MAP). The molecular weight of rabbit 210 kDa MAP was distinct from that of the major brain MAPs, MAP1, MAP2 and Tau, isolated from rabbit brain crude extract by same method. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to this rabbit 210 kDa MAP were raised. Using immunoblotting method, we confirmed that anti-rabbit 210 kDa MAP mAb reacted to 210 kDa protein from rabbit liver excrude, while this mAb also reacted to 210 kDa protein from rabbit brain excrude. Immunofluorescent staining using fixed rabbit liver was carried out using these mAb. In frozen sections of the rabbit liver, the antigen related to mAb 7B10 was localised in the hepatic cells and epithelial cells of the bile duct but not in the smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells.