Ten pairs of Locators were tested with interimplant divergences of 0°, 10°, and 20°. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine surface changes of the components. The results were tested with ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc correction when normally distributed. Results CT99021 that were not normally distributed were tested with Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA by ranks. At the start of the experiment the 10° group showed significantly more retention than the 0° group, but no

significant difference was found between the 0° and 20° groups or the 10° and 20° groups. After 5500 cycles, there was no significant difference in retention between any of the groups. The SEM images showed an approximately equal amount of wear in the nylon patrix inserts from all the groups. The retention of Locator pairs was not impaired by interimplant divergence of up to 20°. Retention after 5500 removal cycles was less than the initial retention in all groups.

The nylon Locator patrices showed wear defects of similar location, type, and magnitude in the SEM images, regardless of interimplant angulation. “
“Denture stomatitis, a common disorder affecting denture wearers, is characterized as inflammation and erythema of the oral mucosal areas covered by the denture. Despite its commonality, the etiology of denture stomatitis is not completely understood. A search C59 wnt of the literature was conducted in the PubMed electronic database (through November 2009) to identify relevant articles for inclusion in a review updating information on the epidemiology and etiology of denture stomatitis and the potential role of denture materials in this disorder. Epidemiological studies report prevalence of denture stomatitis among denture wearers

to range from 15% to over 70%. Studies have been conducted among various population samples, and this appears to influence prevalence rates. In general, where reported, incidence of denture stomatitis is higher among elderly denture users and among 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 women. Etiological factors include poor denture hygiene, continual and nighttime wearing of removable dentures, accumulation of denture plaque, and bacterial and yeast contamination of denture surface. In addition, poor-fitting dentures can increase mucosal trauma. All of these factors appear to increase the ability of Candida albicans to colonize both the denture and oral mucosal surfaces, where it acts as an opportunistic pathogen. Antifungal treatment can eradicate C. albicans contamination and relieve stomatitis symptoms, but unless dentures are decontaminated and their cleanliness maintained, stomatitis will recur when antifungal therapy is discontinued. New developments related to denture materials are focusing on means to reduce development of adherent biofilms. These may have value in reducing bacterial and yeast colonization, and could lead to reductions in denture stomatitis with appropriate denture hygiene.

16 Genetic engineering has also been used to redirect effector T cell specificity, either by transduction with a T cell receptor (TCR)-specific for the immunodominant human leukocyte antigen A (HLA-A)*0201-restricted HBc18-27 epitope,17 or by expressing a chimeric antigen receptor.18 Despite extensive efforts, most immunotherapeutic approaches are not yet clinically relevant. In addition, selleck products their preclinical development is limited by a lack of in vivo models addressing their efficacy in the context of a human immune system.19

Surprisingly, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), which are uniquely specialized in launching antiviral responses,20, 21 have not been used to stimulate antiviral responses against HBV. Due to their ability to detect the presence of single-stranded RNA and CpG-DNA and subsequently produce large quantities of type I IFN and induce adaptive immune responses, pDCs play a crucial role in immunity to viruses. pDCs can cross-present viral antigens following direct infection or after sensing infected

cells,22, 23 induce virus-specific adaptive immune responses in vitro,24 and also elicit cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in vivo following Pirfenidone viral infection.25 Despite these outstanding properties, the potential of pDCs has not been harnessed to drive immunity against HBV. This is due in part to their scarcity and the difficulty of generating these cells from hematopoietic progenitors. If these difficulties could be overcome, pDCs would be a very promising means of restoring MCE HBV-specific immune responses. We developed a powerful tool in the form of a unique human HLA-A*0201+ pDC line that shares phenotypic and functional features of primary pDCs.26 This cell line has been used to promote immune responses toward viral- or tumor-specific antigens. The potential of irradiated peptide-loaded pDCs to induce antigen-specific responses in HLA-A*0201-matched settings has been shown to be effective in the context of melanoma27

as well as Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus infections.28 In the present study, we investigated the potential of pDCs in triggering functional antiviral cellular immunity against HBV ex vivo in a large cohort of chronic HBV patients and addressed their therapeutic potential in vivo using a Hepato-HuPBL mouse model. The results revealed that hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is a key factor in inducing specific responses irrespective of overall clinical status. ALT, alanine aminotransferase; CFSE, carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester; CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; HBcAg, hepatitis B core antigen; HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen, HBV, hepatitis B virus; HLA-A, human leukocyte antigen A; IFN, interferon; LIL, liver-infiltrating lymphocyte; mDC, myeloid dendritic cell; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; pDC, plasmacytoid dendritic cell; TCR, T cell receptor.

01) (Table 3). In contrast, there was no significant difference in the number of IgG4-positive cells in the ampullary biopsies between patients with and without pancreatic head swelling. There were no complications related to ERCP or the biopsy, such as post-ERCP pancreatitis or cholangitis and bile duct perforation, in any of the patients. The results obtained from the present study can be summarized as follows: (i) out of 29 patients with IgG4-SC, 21 (72%) had more than 10 IgG4-positive plasma cells per HPF in at least either their ampullary or bile duct biopsy; (ii) compared between biopsies from Vater’s ampulla and the bile duct, the increased

number of IgG4-positive plasma cells was the only histological feature that could be examined to diagnose IgG4-SC in Dabrafenib ic50 ampullar biopsies. In contrast, eosinophil infiltration, as well as the

number of IgG4-positive plasma cells, is a useful feature in bile duct biopsies; (iii) www.selleckchem.com/products/VX-770.html in the bile duct biopsies, 10 patients had a large number of plasma cells (> 20/HPF). Five of these patients also had lymphoplasmacytic infiltration intermixed with irregular fibrosis, which are histological features that presumably correspond to lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing pancreatitis and cholangitis; and (iv) the bile duct biopsies were especially useful for IgG4-SC patients with pancreatic head swelling. Similar to previous reports, the present study also showed that AIP patients had a significantly higher number of IgG4-positive plasma cells in their ampullary

MCE biopsies than patients with PSC and pancreatobiliary carcinomas. Kubota et al. reported that 18 of 27 patients (67%) with AIP had more than 10 IgG4-positive plasma cells in their ampullary biopsies.14 Similarly, Kamisawa et al. reported that 8 of 10 patients (80%) were highly IgG4-positive (≥ 10 cells/HPF).15 Although the diagnostic rate of the current study was the lowest among the three endoscopic studies, 62% (41/66) of the total patients of the three studies had more than 10 IgG4-positive cells. AIP is typically diagnosed based on a combination of serological, radiological and pathological examinations.19 As much data have accumulated in this field, most AIP cases can be diagnosed based on serum IgG4 concentrations and characteristic radiological features.20–22 However, in some cases it is still difficult to differentiate AIP from pancreatic malignancies. For such cases, IgG4 immunostaining of ampullary biopsies might be one tool to facilitate the diagnosis of IgG4-SC or AIP. For pathologists, it is not difficult to count the number of IgG4-positive cells in biopsied specimens, although it might be harder to interpret the number of positive cells. A pathological diagnosis is usually based on hematoxylin–eosin-stained specimens. Therefore, pathologists might hesitate to make a definitive pathological diagnosis of IgG4-SC or AIP based only on the number of IgG4-positive plasma cells in ampullary biopsies.

A total of 102 polyps were evaluated by NBI in real time during therapeutic colonoscopy by one experienced endoscopist. Whether magnification would be used together or not was determined by randomization. this website After prediction of histology, all lesions were endoscopically excised. Surgical pathology was used as the criterion standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of identifying neoplastic polyps were calculated. Results: A total of 102 lesions, with an average size of 5.9 mm (range 3–12), in 40 patients were assessed – 79

adenomas, 20 hyperplastic, and 3 others. The sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp), positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) in differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic lesions with optical magnification were 77.7%, 50.0%, 84.8% and 38.5%, respectively, while the Sn, Sp, PPV and NPV without optical magnification were 83.7%, 42.9%, 81.8% and 46.2%, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy was 71.7% when prediction was done with optical magnification while SB203580 mouse that was 77.2% when it

was done without optical magnification. Conclusion: Use of NBI colonoscopy without optical magnification distinguishes neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal polyps as accurately as that with optical magnification. NBI colonoscopy without optical magnification for neoplastic polyp diagnosis appears to be comparable with NBI with optical magnification. Key Word(s): 1. Narrow Band Imaging; 2. Colonoscopy; 3. Colorectal Polyps; 4. Histology; Presenting Author: HUI NA Additional Authors: QIN TAO Corresponding Author: HUI NA Affiliations: Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases Objective: To assess wether dietetic education by nurse can improve the quality of bowel preparation in outpatients. Methods: Outpatients with colonoscopy 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 were ramdomly assigned to dietetic education (DE) group and conventional education (CE) group. Subjects in DE group received dietetic education by nurse on the day of appointment. Dietetic education including importance and contents of the appropriate dit. Data including adequate bowel preparation

rate, dietetic compliance rate, completion rate of colonoscopy and polyp detection rate were record. Results: A total of 422 patients were randomised, 211 to DE group and 211 to control group. Dietetic education by nurse can significantly improve adequate bowel preparation rate (91.9% vs. 75.4%, p < 0.001), dietetic compliance rate (83.9% vs. 51.2%, p < 0.001), completion rate of colonoscopy (95.7% vs. 87.2%, p = 0.002) and polyp detection rate (31.3% vs. 21.8%, p < 0.001)(table. 1). Multivariate regression analysis revealed dietetic education (OR = 2.47, 95CI:1.29–4.74, p = 0.007), constipation (OR = 2.42, 95CI:1.27–4.62, p = 0.007) and diet (OR = 2.98, 95CI:1.64–5.43, p < 0.001) were factors significantly associated with the quality of bowel preparation.

1). Ferroptosis assay As reported previously after transplantation of embryonic (ED28) porcine liver fragments,[7] the engrafted cell clusters formed chimeric vascular connections and exhibited

marked proliferation for 2 months in a setting where host liver cells were not induced to divide. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis revealed that approximately 4% of the cells stained for both AFP and albumin, whereas approximately 33% developed a more mature phenotype, staining for albumin only. AFP and albumin were undetectable in 65% of cells, but whether these cells represented iPSCs that failed to differentiate or were HUVECs or stromal cells was not defined. The engrafted cell clusters secreted human albumin and alpha-1-antitrypsin in the peripheral blood at levels of 1-2 μg/mL, exhibited human CYP activity, and improved the survival of mice in a toxic hepatic injury model. The level of human albumin in the blood of transplanted animals was consistent and 5- to 10-fold greater than that described in all but one previously published study.[8] Though dissociation of single hepatocytes from the extracellular matrix can lead to loss of function and reduced selleckchem survival, the investigators, by generating cell clusters incorporating endothelial and mesenchymal cells, induced the iPS-derived cells to mature toward a hepatocyte

phenotype and to engraft, expand, and function in vivo after transplantation 上海皓元 at extrahepatic sites. Although the findings are encouraging, it is perhaps premature to characterize

the engrafted clusters as liver organoids. First, the studies of gene expression and hepatic function, although extensive, did not unequivocally demonstrate that the human iPSC-derived hepatocytes were differentiated any further toward mature hepatocytes than what has been previously published. Second, because the engrafted cell clusters did not develop cholangiocytes or biliary structures (Fig. 2), they did not truly generate authentic liver tissue, as do embryonic porcine implants, which initially contain no biliary structures, but develop mature biliary cells after transplantation in immune-deficient mice.[9] Because embryonic porcine liver organogenesis is critically dependent on gestational age at the time of transplantation in immune-deficient mice, it is possible that the iPSC-derived hepatic endoderm or the supporting endothelial and mesenchymal cells were insufficiently capable of providing the signals necessary for complete liver development. It is known that extensive development of embryonic tissue is possible after transplantation, in some circumstances, because peritoneal implantation of embryonic kidney tissue results in the formation of functioning nephrons as well as a collecting system that can prolong the survival of anephric rats.

I hope you will look forward to Selleckchem R428 it. My very best wishes to you all! No potential conflict

of interest has been declared by the author. “
“A woman, aged 36, had investigations as part of a health screen. She denied any significant symptoms. Although she is currently living in Taiwan, she was born in Burma and had travelled extensively through South East Asia. She had the dietary habit of ingestion of raw vegetables. Screening blood tests including liver function tests were normal. Tumor markers were within the reference range and she had negative serological tests for hepatitis B and C. An ultrasound study showed a large hepatic mass and this was followed by a contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan. There was a lobulated mass, 9 cm in diameter, in the right hepatic lobe that was see more well-demarcated and showed spotty peripheral calcification. Furthermore, the lesion did not enhance in either the arterial, portal venous or delayed phases. The portal venous phase is shown in Figure 1. A liver biopsy showed granulation and necrotic tissue without evidence of malignancy. She was treated with a right hepatectomy. The mass contained granulation-like tissue with turbid yellow fluid. Histological sections revealed several unembryonated eggs, 100–150 µm in maximum diameter, that seemed likely to

be related to infection with Fasciola hepatica (Figure 2). She was not treated with antihelminthic drugs as stool specimens were negative for eggs and for Fasciola hepatica antigens. The three major liver flukes that infect humans are Clonorchis, Opisthorchis and Fasciola. Fasciola has a more complex lifestyle that includes 上海皓元 an hepatic phase as well as a biliary phase. In the hepatic phase, developing flukes remain within the liver for 6 to 9 weeks. This phase is often asymptomatic but, with major infections, symptoms can include fever, upper abdominal pain, hepatomegaly and urticaria.

Most patients also have a high eosinophil count in peripheral blood. Mature flukes in the bile duct can persist for up to 10 years and are occasionally symptomatic with biliary pain, cholangitis and pancreatitis. The development of a chronic liver abscess appears to be extremely rare but could develop because of prominent hepatic inflammation or because of an unusual chronic form of cholangitis. In the above case, the latter would appear more likely as eggs are only produced by mature flukes within the biliary system. Contributed by “
“We agree with Dr. Coombes and Dr. Syn that Hedgehog (Hh) signaling may be an important factor influencing liver regeneration, and in particular the development of the ductular reaction and progenitor cell expansion. We have not particularly assessed the Hh signaling in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Studies have shown that hedgehog-responsive progenitor cells proliferate in liver injury and accumulate in humans with alcoholic liver disease correlating with disease severity.

Control specimens www.selleckchem.com/products/PF-2341066.html were fabricated using all nonengaging components. Specimens were attached to internally connected 3.5 (diameter) × 13 mm (length) implants, torqued to 32 Ncm, and embedded into epoxy resin. Specimens were tested in cyclic fatigue with a 2 Hz sine wave and 0.1 min/max load ratio. Load amplitude started at 1.8 N and increased by 1.8 N every 60 cycles until fracture. Log-rank statistic, ANOVA, Spearman’s correlation, and LIFETEST procedures were used to evaluate level of statistical significance within the results. Results: In the control group, the mean number of cycles to fracture was 31,205 ± 2639. Mean axial force at fracture was 932 ± 78 N.

In group A, these numbers were 38,160 ± 4292 and 1138 ± 128 N, and in group B, 31,810 ± 3408 and 949 ± 101 N. Statistical significance levels for number of cycles to fracture were: Control versus group A, p= 0.0117, and groups A versus B, p= 0.0156 (statistically significant). Control versus group B, p= 0.357 (not statistically significant). Log-rank statistic for the survival curves is greater than would be expected by chance; there was a LBH589 concentration statistically significant difference between survival curves (p= 0.012). The location and mode of

failure were noteworthy (always in the abutment screw). Conclusions: The position of the engaging component had significant effects on the results. Within the limitations of this investigation, it can be concluded that using an engaging abutment in a screw-retained fixed cantilevered FDP provides a mechanical advantage, and engaging the implant furthest from the cantilever when designing a screw-retained cantilever FDP increased resistance to fracture of the distal abutment screw. “
“The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiopacity of eight contemporary luting cements using direct digital radiography. Ten specimens, (5 mm diameter, 1 mm high) were prepared for each material tested (RelyX ARC, RelyX U100, RelyX Unicem, Nexus 2, Nexus 3, Metacem, Breeze, Adhesor zinc phosphate). The specimens were stored in a moist

chamber at 37°C until completely set, then radiographed using a Kodak digital sensor and an aluminum step wedge with variable thicknesses (1 to 13 mm in 1-mm increments) used for reference. A Kodak 2100 intraoral X-ray unit was operated at 60 kV, 7 mA, and 0.20 seconds. According to international MCE公司 standards, the radiopacity of the specimens was compared with that of the aluminum step wedge using the equal-density area tool of the Kodak Dental Imaging software (ver. 6.7). Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s test. Adhesor zinc phosphate cement showed the highest radiopacity of all materials and dentin. Breeze showed the lowest radiopacity (p < 0.05). No significant difference in radiopacity was observed between dentin and RelyX ARC, Nexus 2, or Metacem (p > 0.05). The radiopacities of Nexus 3 and RelyX Unicem were significantly higher than those of other resin cements and dentin (p < 0.05).

To specifically drive a liver-specific expression, the pWhere vector was modified by inserting a regulatory element that consisted of the liver-specific alpha1-antitrypsin (α1-AT) promoter, coupled with the enhancer II (EII) sequence of human hepatitis B virus (HBV). This chimeric DNA element was previously shown to act as a potent, steady promoter and was able to ensure a constant, high FK506 research buy level of gene expression in the liver.20 The tissue specificity of this EII/α1-AT chimeric promoter, cloned upstream of a luciferase reporter gene into a pGL3 plasmid,

was tested in different types of hepatic and nonhepatic cell lines, which confirmed that the highest level of luciferase expression was detectable in hepatocytes, thereby

confirming the liver specificity of the promoter (data not shown). A DNA segment, which included the mmu-mir-221 locus, was amplified from mouse genomic DNA and was cloned into the pWhere/EII/α1-AT vector downstream of the EII/α1-AT promoter (Fig. 1A). Expression of miR-221 from this vector was proven to be functional in a liver-cancer–derived cell line (Supporting Fig. 1). To generate a line of TG mice, the pWhere/EII/α1-AT/miR221 plasmid was linearized using the PacI restriction enzyme. The purified 9-kilobase fragment containing the transgene was used to microinject fertilized oocytes of a B6D2F2 mouse strain to complete their development. After several crosses, a homozygous line of Selleck CP673451 TG mice overexpressing the miR-221 in the liver was produced and used in all subsequent experiments. To assess miR-221 expression levels in the TG model, livers taken from homozygous mice at different ages were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In comparison with wild-type (WT) mice, the analysis revealed a stable, increased expression of miR-221 in the livers of TG animals, thereby confirming the development of homozygous

TG mice overexpressing miR-221 in hepatic cells (Fig. 1B). Macroscopically, livers of TG mice exhibited an increase in volume and weigth medchemexpress in comparison with controls (Supporting Fig. 2). Histologically, though both groups displayed a conserved liver architecture, TG livers were characterized by variable extents of steatohepatitic changes, with hepatocyte degeneration characterized by enlarged cells with large dysplastic nuclei, lipidic vacuole, and focal coagulative necrosis (Fig. 1C-F). These changes were more evident in older TG animals and were absent among WT controls. To assess whether miR-221 up-regulation could affect the expression of its targets, we performed an immunoblotting analysis to verify the expression of the miR-221 target proteins, Cdkn1b/p27, Cdkn1c/p57, and Bmf.2, 14 In non-neoplastic liver tissue, we confirmed that Bmf and Cdkn1b/p27 were both significantly down-regulated in TG mice. Cdkn1c/p57 was also generally down-regulated, although it did not reach statistical significance (Fig. 2).

Although there was no seasonality in the assemblage structure of macroinvertebrates, the diet of platypuses

Raf inhibitor varied between seasons, notably between winter and summer, suggesting that some dietary selectivity is seasonal. Dietary differences between the sexes were not detected. Overall, our results suggest that some dietary selection occurs in the platypus with respect to both foraging habitat and season. Seasonal selectivity may reflect different metabolic demands on platypuses at different times of the year. In contrast, habitat selectivity may reflect difficulty of prey access and risk of prey escape in fast-flowing riffles, higher energy costs and risk of predation associated with exploiting this habitat, and prey avoidance responses that are more rapid in the shallow riffles than in the deeper water pools and stream edges. These alternatives await evaluation by future research. “
“Thermotolerance traits vary across geographical gradients but there is a lack of clinal variation in some Drosophila species. Thus, it is not clear whether thermotolerance or other correlated traits are the target of natural selection. In order to test selection responses, we investigated body melanization and thermotolerance traits in six altitudinal populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Based on rearing

different geographical populations under uniform growth conditions at 21 °C (common garden experiments), clinal variations for cold resistance are in the direction opposite to heat resistance along an altitudinal gradient, that is Selleck Tigecycline darker flies from highland populations evidenced higher levels of cold resistance while lowland populations showed higher heat resistance. Phenotypic plastic responses for body melanization at 17–28 °C showed significant correlations with thermotolerance traits. At 17 °C, regression coefficients as a function of altitude are highly significant and positive for cold resistance but negative for heat knockdown.

However, for flies reared at 28 °C, there is no elevational change in melanization as well as thermotolerance traits. Thus, both genetic and plastic changes of body melanization and thermotolerance traits suggest a correlated selection response. Further, within-population analyses of body melanization (based on dark, intermediate and light color phenotypes) showed MCE公司 significant associations with thermotolerance traits. Correlated variations in body melanization and thermal tolerances are associated with climatic thermal variability (Tcv) but not with Tmin. or Tmax. along an altitudinal gradient. “
“Jaguars Panthera onca coexist with pumas Puma concolor across their entire range. In areas where they occur together their coexistence may be facilitated by differences in diet. This study compared food habits of jaguars and pumas in Belize, Central America, across a protected lowland rainforest and the neighbouring human-influenced landscape.

Current therapies control viral infection and reduce progressive liver disease. However, due to the unique HBV replication cycle viral elimination is virtually absent. Around 5 %of HBV infected patients are co-infected with hepatitis D virus (HDV) resulting to more rapid progression of liver disease. HBV/HDV co-infection remains very difficult to treat. Recently, the sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP) has been identified as a functional receptor of HBV and HDV. In this BGB324 in vitro study we aimed to establish a high-throughput HBV and HDV infection

model system to identify novel targets for viral cure. Methods: To develop high-thoughput models for viral infection, we generated a panel of hepatoma cell lines stably overexpressing hNTCP. HBV infectious particles were purified from the serum of virus- infected patients

and recombinant HDV and HBV infectious particles were produced in cell lines. Viral infections and their detection were optimized using various protocols including the use of automated systems. Results: Using viral protein-specific immunofluorescence, Northern Blot, HDV RNA-specific RT-PCR, HBV DNA-specific qPCR, we demonstrate that stable cell lines are highly susceptible to HDV and HBV infections. Screening a large series of cell culture conditions and Erlotinib ic50 experimental conditions, we established a protocol allowing robust detection of infections in a high-throughput format of 96 well plates. We validated the feasibility and robustness of the system by RNAi-mediated silencing of NTCP expression, antiviral peptides and Cyclosporin A showing easily detectable and quantifiable inhibition of infection. Targeted RNAi screens are underway to identify host-dependency factors for the complete viral life cycle. Conclusions: In conclusion, we have established high-throughput model systems for HDV and HBV infection. These systems will MCE公司 be useful for discovery of novel targets and antivirals

for viral cure. Disclosures: David Durantel – Grant/Research Support: Hoffman-La-Roche Ltd, Gilead Sciences, Novira Therapeutics Fabien Zoulim – Consulting: BMS, Gilead, Roche; Grant/Research Support: BMS, Gilead, Roche; Speaking and Teaching: BMS, Gilead The following people have nothing to disclose: Eloi R. VERRIER, Charlotte Bach, Laura Heydmann, Amelie Weiss, Rajeevkumar G. Tawar, Daniel Felmlee, Sarah Durand, Francois Habersetzer, Michel Doffoel, Catherine Schuster, Laurent Brino, Camille C. Sureau, Mirjam B. Zeisel, Thomas F. Baumert Background and aims: HBV/HDV co-infection is the most aggressive form of chronic viral hepatitis. HDV replication is not susceptible to currently available direct anti-HBV drugs, and sustained response to interferon alpha therapy occurs in less than a third of the patients, underlining the need for new therapies.