Relationship of serum markers of hepatitis B and C virus replication in coinfected patients.

To evaluate viral interference between hepatitis B and C, we studied coinfected patients serologically and molecular biologically. Twenty-seven patients positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, were classified into Groups BC-L and BC-H according to DNA-polymerase activity (less or greater than 100 cpm, respectively). Patients with hepatitis B or C alone were also enrolled as controls. HCV-RNA was detected more often in Group BC-L than in Group BC-H. Genotype 1b of HCV was determined in 75% of Group BC-H, 87.5% of Group BC-L, and 70.7% of hepatitis C-only patients. Activity of DNA-polymerase in coinfected patients was lower in patients positive for HCV-RNA as compared with those negative. HBsAg titers tended to be lower in coinfected patients than in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) alone. In conclusion, in coinfection, HBV may suppress the replication of HCV and HCV appears to reduce the expression of HBsAg and probably suppresses HBV replication.&#60;/P&#62;</p

Self-Assembly of Polymeric Micelles Made of Asymmetric Polystyrene-b-Polyacrylic Acid-b-Polyethylene Oxide for the Synthesis of Mesoporous Nickel Ferrite

In this work, we report the synthesis of mesoporous nickel ferrite with an average pore size of 22 nm by using the laboratory-synthesized asymmetric polystyrene-b-polyacrylic acid-b-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PAA-b-PEO) triblock copolymer as a soft template. Here, PS acts as a pore-forming agent, whereas PAA acts as a reaction site for the metal ions owing to its strong electrostatic interaction with positively charged metal ions. Furthermore, the PEO polymer provides stability for the micelles in solution and also promotes the orderly organization of the composite particles during assembly of the micelles