فهرست مطالب

Hepatitis Monthly
Volume:18 Issue: 9, Sep 2018

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1397/06/12
  • تعداد عناوین: 4
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  • Pooneh Malekifar, Mehran Babanejad, Neda Izadi, Seyed Moayed Alavian * Page 1

    Context

     The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant women using available data in Eastern Mediterranean Region Office (EMRO) and Middle Eastern countries from 2000 to 2016.

    Evidence Acquisition

     Pubmed, ISI Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Ovid, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Persian databases were searched for related articles on the prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant women in EMRO and Middle Eastern countries. Heterogeneity was assessed based on Cochran’s Q-test results. However, since this test may fail to exactly identify true heterogeneity, it was complemented with Higgins and Thompson’s I2.

    Results

    In general the numbers of 49 articles (89 452 people) were included. Based on available data, the HBsAg prevalence in countries with at least one study conducted in them were 3.2% in Egypt, 1.3 % in Iran, 4.3% in Jordan, 1.5% in Libya, 7.1% in Oman, 2% in Pakistan, 1% in Qatar, 2.6% in Saudi Arabia, 5.6% in Sudan, 4% in Tunisia, 2.8% in Turkey, 1.5% in United Arab Emirates, and 10.8% Yemen.

    Conclusions

    The available data on the prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant women of EMRO and Middle East countries showed that there was a different pattern of HBsAg prevalence in studied countries. Although there were countries with low prevalence of HBsAg, the lowest frequency in our study was higher than the reported prevalence in developed countries.

    Keywords: Prevalence, Hepatitis B, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, Meta-Analysis, Pregnant Women
  • Mina Darand, Seyed Moayed Alavian, Azita Hekmatdoost * Page 2
    Context: Nigella sativa (NS) has been used as an herbal remedy for the treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases. In this review, we aimed to summarize the current evidence on the effects of NS consumption on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) characteristics. Evidence Acquisition: We reviewed the existing literature published by the end of 2017 using the following key words: “Nigella sativa”, “black seeds”, “black cumin”, “thymoquinone”, “NAFLD”, “NASH”, and “diabetes”. Papers used in this study were collected by searching the PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and Scopus databases. Our search was limited to English-language articles. All the articles published between 2000 and 2017 meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study.
    Results
    The results of current studies indicate that NS has many biological effects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive and wound healing activities. In summary, it can be used as a valuable plant for designing therapeutic strategies in NAFLD.
    Conclusions
    Results from available studies indicate that NS can ameliorate the main metabolic disturbances related to NAFLD including hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and overweight. These effects are mainly attributed to the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of thymoquinone. Clinical trials on human subjects are highly essential to confirm the results found in in vivo and in vitro studies.
    Keywords: Nigella sativa, NAFLD, NASH, Fatty Liver
  • Hend Ibrahim Shousha *, Karim Akl, Sherif Ragheb, Eman Medhat, Gamal Esmat Page 3
    Background

    12-week sofosbuvir/ledipasvir combination is approved for the treatment of HCV genotype 4.

    Objectives

    The study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of generic sofosbuvir/ledipasvir for 8 and 12 weeks in easy to treat patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4.

    Methods

    In this prospective randomized study, 40 naïve non-cirrhotic easy to treat patients were randomized to receive 8 or 12 weeks (groups 1 and 2, respectively) of generic ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (MPIviropack-Plus provided by Marcyrl Pharmaceutical Industries). A simple randomization was done using computer-generated random numbers by Microsoft Excel. The primary endpoint was the sustained virological response 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12).

    Results

    There was no significant difference between the two groups of 8 and 12 weeks of therapy in pre-treatment demographics, laboratory parameters, and viral load. A more significant reduction in liver enzymes was noticed in group 2. No adverse events were recorded. SVR12 was 100% with 8 weeks of generic sofosbuvir/ledipasvir and 95% with 12 weeks of the same regimen.

    Conclusions

    Generic sofosbuvir/ledipasvir for 8 weeks is highly effective with a high rate of SVR12 among naïve non-cirrhotic easy to treat patients with HCV genotype 4 infection. No additional benefit was associated with the extension of the treatment duration to 12 weeks.

    Keywords: HCV Treatment, Egypt, Generic, Sofosbuvir, Ledipasvir
  • Philip Augustine, Guruprasad Padsalgi, Cyriac Abby Philips * Page 4