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Biomedical subjects

H R Bruch

Publications and source records attributed to H R Bruch.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

[Hepatitis B and C: current therapy].

Treatment of acute viral hepatitis B is symptomatic, fulminant cases may require liver transplantation. In chronic hepatitis B interferon (IFN)-alpha will induce sustained response rates of 30-40%. Nucleoside analogues such as famciclovir or lamivudine appear to be promising for treatment in non-responders or cirrhotic and immunosuppressed patients. IFN-alpha may reduce the rate of chronic courses in acute hepatitis C infections. Chronic hepatitis C patients with elevated ALT activities, positive serum HCV RNA and portal or bridging fibrosis on biopsy are recommended for treatment with IFN-alpha. Sustained responses are observed in less than 20% of treated patients. Retreatment with IFN-alpha may be indicated in non-responders or in case of relapse. Combination therapy of IFN-alpha plus ribavirin may emerge as treatment of choice for patients with a relapse in the near future.

Antiviral Agents↗
PubMed1993

Treatment of chronic hepatitis B with interferon alpha-2b and interleukin-2.

A total of 37 patients with histologically confirmed chronic viral hepatitis B and presence of HBV-DNA and HBsAg in the serum were treated in a randomized, prospectively controlled multicenter trial either with recombinant IFN alpha-2b alone or a combination of IFN alpha-2b and recombinant IL-2. Twenty-two patients from group A were treated with 3 MU of IFN alpha-2b s.c. thrice weekly for 5 months. Starting at month 2 IL-2 was added: priming doses of 1.5 million CU were given s.c. on the first 2 days of each of the remaining 3 months, followed by maintenance doses of 0.3 million CU daily for 5 days per week. Fifteen patients from group B received 5 MU of IFN alpha-2b s.c. thrice weekly for 5 months. Five patients from group A (24%) and 4 patients from group B (28%) cleared HBV-DNA and HBeAg from the serum, and normalized elevated serum aminotransferase activities. The response rate in both groups did not differ significantly. Since side effects were more pronounced during combination therapy than in IFN alpha-2b monotherapy, it is suggested that treatment with IFN alpha-2b alone is preferable to a regimen of IFN alpha-2b/IL-2 applied according to the above schedule.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Androstenedione metabolism in cultured human osteoblast-like cells.

Bone is a target organ of androgens. The mechanism by which these steroids exert their action within bone cells is still poorly understood. The metabolism of androstenedione, the major circulating androgen in women, was, therefore, assessed in osteoblast-like bone cells cultured from bone of 16 postmenopausal women (mean age, 69 yr; range, 56-80) and 3 elderly men (mean age, 71 yr; range, 69-73) undergoing total hip replacement. Each cell strain was incubated under standardized conditions with varying concentrations of [1,2,6,7-3H]androstenedione (0.05-5 microM). In every instance 5 alpha-reduced metabolites and 17 beta-hydroxysteroids were formed. There was no correlation between the volumetric density of the resected bone and androstenedione metabolism of the corresponding cultured bone cell strains. The apparent Km for the 5 alpha-reductase activity (sum of androstanedione and dihydrotestosterone) of all 19 cell strains was 0.7 +/- 0.1 microM (mean +/- SEM), and the apparent Km for 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (sum of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone) was 2.3 +/- 0.8 microM (mean +/- SEM), values similar to those reported for other androgen target organs. Our results demonstrate that human osteoblast-like cells have the capacity to transform androstenedione into the more potent biological androgens testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Since the Km values of both 5 alpha-reductase and 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase exceed the serum androstenedione concentration, the formation of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone appears to be mainly a function of substrate availability.

Aged↗