[Hepatitis delta: Clinical aspects and therapeutic perspectives]

International audienceHDV prevalence must not be disregarded, as the virus is associated with a higher severity of hepatic disease. All HBV carriers should be tested for HDV as well, at least once during the disease history, and in case of worsening of a chronic HBV hepatitis. Diagnosis should rely on anti-HDV antibody testing, and confirmed by HDV RNA detection and quantification by RT-qPCR. The only treatment available is pegylated alpha interferon. Optimal duration of treatment has not yet been proven, and relapses are common. Disease follow-up should be carried on even when SVR is obtained, in order to track late viral relapses, and fibrosis complications (such as HCC screening

Enjeux de la prise en charge du virus de l’hépatite B (VHB) en transplantation

International audienc

Safe and effective digestive endoscopic resection in patients with cirrhosis: a single-center experience

Abstract Background Endoscopic resection has developed over the years. The main complications are perforation and bleeding. This study aimed to evaluate safety and effectiveness of digestive endoscopic resection in patients with cirrhosis. Methods This retrospective, open-label, single-center study included all consecutive patients with cirrhosis who were admitted for endoscopic resection between 2009 and 2016. Safety, efficacy, and risk factors for delayed bleeding were analyzed. Results 126 patients undergoing 164 procedures were included: 65 endoscopic resections (49 patients) in the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus 34, stomach 20, duodenum 11) and 99 in the lower gastrointestinal tract (77 patients). Mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score was 9.9 (standard deviation 4.5). Esophageal varices were present in 50 patients, and 21 patients had decompensated cirrhosis. The overall curative rate of endoscopic resection was 84.0 %. No patients died during 30-day follow-up. Immediate overall morbidity was 6.1 %, with two postoperative fevers and eight bleeds. Risk factors for delayed bleeding were duodenal location (P < 0.01), antiplatelet medication (P = 0.02), and lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (P = 0.01) in univariate analysis. Duodenal location and lower GFR remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis, with respective odds ratios for bleeding of 52.12 and 1.04. No liver decompensation occurred after endoscopic resection. Conclusions Endoscopic resection was safe and effective in patients with mild (Child – Pugh class A/B) cirrhosis, and should be proposed as a first option for treatment of superficial neoplasia. Additional data in patients with severe cirrhosis are needed to confirm the safety in this population

Quantification and epigenetic evaluation of the residual pool of hepatitis B covalently closed circular DNA in long-term nucleoside analogue-treated patients

Abstract Hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular (ccc)DNA is the key genomic form responsible for viral persistence and virological relapse after treatment withdrawal. The assessment of residual intrahepatic cccDNA levels and activity after long-term nucleos(t)ide analogues therapy still represents a technical challenge. Quantitative (q)PCR, rolling circle amplification (RCA) and droplet digital (dd)PCR assays were used to quantify residual intrahepatic cccDNA in liver biopsies from 56 chronically HBV infected patients after 3 to 5 years of telbivudine treatment. Activity of residual cccDNA was evaluated by quantifying 3.5 kB HBV RNA (preC/pgRNA) and by assessing cccDNA-associated histone tails post-transcriptional modifications (PTMs) by micro-chromatin immunoprecipitation. Long-term telbivudine treatment resulted in serum HBV DNA suppression, with most of the patients reaching undetectable levels. Despite 38 out of 56 patients had undetectable cccDNA when assessed by qPCR, RCA and ddPCR assays detected cccDNA in all-but-one negative samples. Low preC/pgRNA level in telbivudine-treated samples was associated with enrichment for cccDNA histone PTMs related to repressed transcription. No difference in cccDNA levels was found according to serum viral markers evolution. This panel of cccDNA evaluation techniques should provide an added value for the new proof-of-concept clinical trials aiming at a functional cure of chronic hepatitis B