Biomedical subjects

Vitomir Burek

Publications and source records attributed to Vitomir Burek.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

[Viral hepatitis: Croatian consensus statement].

There has been a dramatic improvement in diagnostic procedures and therapy of viral hepatitis in the last 20 years. Improvements in therapy caused an increase in actual cost, however, with significant long-term savings through a decreased cost of treatment of advanced liver disease including liver transplantation. The Croatian National Board for Viral Hepatitis has decided to initiate the organization of consensus conference on viral hepatitis enabling the leading experts in the country to give the best possible recommendations for the diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy in our circumstances. The Consensus Conference took place in Zagreb in June 2004, with update in March 2005, organized by the Croatian National Board for Viral Hepatitis, Reference Centers of the Ministry of Health for Chronic Liver Diseases, Infectious Diseases and AIDS, Croatian Society of Gastroenterology--Hepatology Section, Croatian Society for Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, and Croatian Institute for Health Insurance. Invited experts provided written reports on the respective subjects that appear in this issue and their recommendations resulting in this consensus statement.

Consensus Statements as Topic↗

PubMed2005

[Laboratory diagnosis of viral hepatitis B and C].

Accurate diagnosis of viral hepatitis is based on determination of specific viral markers. In HBV infection they include HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, IgM anti-HBc, and HBV DNA. There are patients with HBV marker constellation indicating serologic recovery, but with HBV DNA in the liver indicating continuous viral replication. Mutations have been described in all four HBV genes. It is important to take into account the main precore mutation which leads to a decrease or complete inhibition of HBeAg production (HBeAg negative HBV infection). Diagnostically most important are surface gene mutations because they can result in the false diagnosis or delay in diagnosis in important groups of patients. Anti-HCV and HCV RNA are found in sera of patients with HCV infection. A false positive result is possible with ELISA, especially in patients with low c/o ratio and in all individuals with a low risk of HCV infection. It is necessary to confirm ELISA positivity with confirmation techniques (western blot, immunoblot). There are qualitative and quantitative assays for HCV RNA determination. HCV genotyping should be done, since different viral genotypes respond differently to therapy and therapeutic protocols are different. It is possible to determine HCVAg free or complexed with the antibody. Determination of free HCVAg could enable the diagnosis of acute HCV infection. There are some clinical situations where the interpretation of HBV and HCV markers is difficult because of ambiguous interpretation and "unusual" constellation. Attention should be focused on simultaneous infection within other hepatitis viruses or other viruses like HIV. Replication of one virus could have a direct influence on the replication and expression of another virus.

Hepatitis Antibodies↗

PubMed2004

Identification of HIV-1 protease cleavage site in human C1-inhibitor.

We have investigated the ability of HIV-1 protease to cleave human complement proteins of the classical complement pathway: C1q, C2 and C4 as well as the regulatory protein, C1-inhibitor. Purified complement proteins were incubated with recombinant HIV-1 protease in vitro and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting assay. The only cleavage site was found in N-terminal region of C1-inhibitor, and it was located between residues Leu-32 and Phe-33 as determined by amino acid sequence analysis of the 85 kDa proteolytic fragment after 12 Edman degradation cycles. The HIV-1 protease cleavage sites were not found in C1q, C2 and C4 protein. HIV-1 protease-susceptible site in N-terminal region of C1-inhibitor is very close to the cleavage sites of some other proteases that are able to induce N-terminal proteolysis of the protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗