Research Publications (Food Safety)

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection results in multiple clinical phenotypes of varying severity. One of the critical gaps in CHB management is the lack of a genetic-based tool to aid existing hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis risk stratification models for patients with active CHB. Such individual predictive models for CHB are plagued by an inherent limitation of discriminatory power that clearly indicates the need for their improvement.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy in the world, with high mortality and poor prognosis. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the key factors implicated in the occurrence of HCC. Increasing evidence suggests that miRNAs play important roles in the development and metastasis of HBV-associated HCC (HBV-HCC).

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the main causes of chronic liver diseases, the disorders of which involve multiple pathological processes and elements including host factors such as non-coding small RNAs. Although several genes have been reported to be correlated with HCV infection, the potential regulatory network has not been deciphered clearly.

Berries have been implicated as the probable vehicle of infection in multiple outbreaks of norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV). These foods often receive minimal or no processing and may be exposed to virus contamination at each stage of production. In an increasingly globalized world, berries have a wide distribution and can give rise to the spread of diseases in distant parts of the world.

Transmission of pathogens present in the indoor air can occur through aerosols. This study evaluated the efficacy of an evaporated mix of essential oils to reduce the numbers of culturable aerosolized coronavirus, bacterium and fungus. The essential oil-containing gel was allowed to vaporize inside a glass chamber for 10 or 20 min.

Zoonoses and Public Health, EarlyView. Autochthonous cases of hepatitis E (HE) associated with zoonotic genotypes HEV-3 and HEV-4 have significantly increased in industrialized countries over the last decade. Suidae are generally recognized as the main reservoirs of these genotypes. Susceptibility to HE virus (HEV) infection and zoonotic potential have also been confirmed in other species, including sheep and goat.

Zoonoses and Public Health, EarlyView. Worldwide, hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is considered a significant public health concern. In particular, HEV genotype 4 (HEV-4) has spread to more areas and host species. In this study, we describe the global distribution of HEV-4 and characterize HEV-4 subtypes by host, country and year of isolation. We retrospectively collected HEV-4 sequences available before December 31, 2019, in GenBank.

There is an upward trend of consumption of organic fresh vegetables due to consumer demand for healthy foods without chemical additives. On the other hand, the number of food borne outbreaks associated with contaminated fresh produce has raised, being human norovirus genogroup I (GI), GII and hepatitis A virus (HAV) the most commonly reported causative agents.

by Kenta Takaura, Masayuki Kurosaki, Kento Inada, Sakura Kirino, Kouji Yamashita, Tomohiro Muto, Leona Osawa, Shuhei Sekiguchi, Yuka Hayakawa, Mayu Higuchi, Shun Kaneko, Chiaki Maeyashiki, Nobuharu Tamaki, Yutaka Yasui, Jun Itakura, Kaoru Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki Nakanishi, Yuka Takahashi, Namiki Izumi Background and aim The long-term prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated at a very-early-stage (the Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification stage 0) was unclear, e

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the major cause of acute hepatitis worldwide. HEV is a positive-sense RNA virus expressing three open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes the ORF1 non–structural polyprotein, the viral replicase which transcribes the full-length genome and a subgenomic RNA that encodes the structural ORF2 and ORF3 proteins.

Background:Serratia is an opportunistic pathogen known to cause an array of infectious presentations. Aside from case reports, intravenous (IV) drug use has not been adequately quantified as a major risk factor for Serratia infection.Methods:A retrospective cohort study of 103 adult patients admitted to four community hospitals in Ohio from January 2014 to December 2018 with a positive blood culture for Serratia species.

Journal of Applied Microbiology, Volume 132, Issue 3, Page 1616-1635, March 2022. Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is characterized by the detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in serum or liver but negativity for hepatitis B surface antigen. OBI, which is thought to be maintained by host, immunological, viral and/or epigenetic factors, is one of the most challenging clinical features in the study of viral hepatitis. Currently, there is no validated detection test for OBI.

The emerging hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) caused by the novel genotype of fowl adenovirus 4 (FAdV-4) and the infectious bursal disease (IBD) caused by the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) are important avian diseases, both cause huge economic losses to the poultry industry. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an efficient and convenient FAdV-4/IBDV bivalent vaccine to prevent the spread of FAdV-4 and IBDV infections.

Exposure to cadmium (Cd), a toxic metal, is epidemiologically linked to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in humans. However, the role of Cd in NASH remains to be fully elucidated. This study employed a novel murine NASH model to investigate the effects of chronic low-dose Cd on hepatic pathology and its underlying mechanisms. NASH is characterized by lipid accumulation, extensive cell death, and persistent inflammation in the liver.

Numerous canonical cellular signaling pathways modulate hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. HBV genome products are known to play a significant role in regulating these cellular pathways for the liver’s viral-related pathology and physiology and have been identified as the main factor in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global public health threat. Reaching the World Health Organization’s objective for eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 will require a precise disease diagnosis. While immunoassays and qPCR play a significant role in detecting HCV, rapid and accurate point-of-care testing is important for pathogen identification. This study establishes a reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification–lateral flow dipstick (RT-RAA-LFD) assay to detect HCV.

Cellular cyclophilins (Cyps) such as cyclophilin A (CypA) have emerged as key players at the virus-host interface. As host factors required for the replication of many unrelated viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and coronaviruses (CoVs), Cyps are attractive targets for antiviral therapy. However, a clear understanding of how these viruses exploit Cyps to promote their replication has yet to be elucidated.

by Patricia Sansilvestri Morel, Valerie Duvivier, Florence Bertin, Nicolas Provost, Adel Hammoutene, Edwige-Ludiwyne Hubert, Arantxa Gonzalez, Isabelle Tupinon-Mathieu, Valerie Paradis, Philippe Delerive Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) is a major cause of end-stage liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma resulting ultimately in increased liver-related mortality. Fibrosis is the main driver of mortality in NASH.

by Akira Sakamaki, Masaaki Takamura, Norihiro Sakai, Yusuke Watanabe, Yoshihisa Arao, Naruhiro Kimura, Toru Setsu, Hiroyuki Abe, Takeshi Yokoo, Hiroteru Kamimura, Shunsuke Tsubata, Nobuo Waguri, Toru Ishikawa, Hirokazu Kawai, Soichi Sugitani, Tomomi Sato, Kazuhiro Funakoshi, Masashi Watanabe, Kentarou Igarashi, Kenya Kamimura, Atsunori Tsuchiya, Yutaka Aoyagi, Shuji Terai

Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article. Antibodies against hepatitis B virus S protein can protect against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Therefore, hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG), which contains HBsAb, is used clinically as a therapy for HBV infection. In this study, we obtained a series of monoclonal antibodies that recognize multiple HBV genotypes. All the antibodies recognized conformational epitopes of S protein, but not linear epitopes.

by Rosario Sabariegos, Ana María Ortega-Prieto, Luis Díaz-Martínez, Ana Grande-Pérez, Carlos García Crespo, Isabel Gallego, Ana I. de Ávila, Laura Albentosa-González, María Eugenia Soria, Pablo Gastaminza, Esteban Domingo, Celia Perales, Antonio Mas In the course of experiments aimed at deciphering the inhibition mechanism of mycophenolic acid and ribavirin in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we observed an inhibitory effect of the nucleoside guanosine (Gua).

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes acute and chronic hepatitis in humans. The zoonotic HEV genotype 3 is mainly transmitted by consumption of contaminated food produced from infected animals. However, transmission via contaminated surfaces has also to be considered. Here, the genotype 3c strain 47832c was dried on steel, wood, plastics and ceramics, stored at 23 °C or 3 °C for up to 8 weeks and remaining infectivity was titrated on cell culture.

by Donatien Serge Mbaga, Sebastien Kenmoe, Cyprien Kengne-Ndé, Jean Thierry Ebogo-Belobo, Gadji Mahamat, Joseph Rodrigue Foe-Essomba, Marie Amougou-Atsama, Serges Tchatchouang, Inès Nyebe, Alfloditte Flore Feudjio, Ginette Irma Kame-Ngasse, Jeannette Nina Magoudjou-Pekam, Lorraine K. M.

by Davit Baliashvili, Francisco Averhoff, Ana Kasradze, Stephanie J. Salyer, Giorgi Kuchukhidze, Amiran Gamkrelidze, Paata Imnadze, Maia Alkhazashvili, Gvantsa Chanturia, Nazibrola Chitadze, Roena Sukhiashvili, Curtis Blanton, Jan Drobeniuc, Juliette Morgan, Liesl M. Hagan In preparation for the National Hepatitis C Elimination Program in the country of Georgia, a nationwide household-based hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence survey was conducted in 2015.

Naturally fermented filed water-dropwort (Oenanthe javanica) extracts by steeping with oligosaccharides (FDE) show a hepatoprotective activity against the liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and ethanol. However, the role of FDE in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has not yet been reported. In the present study, we investigated the effect of FDE on NASH using a mouse model with a methionine/choline-deficient diet (MCD).