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Hideharu Harada

Bio: Hideharu Harada is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hepatitis C & Hepatitis C virus. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 20 publications receiving 636 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Because of the correlation between prolonged high NOB titers and natural resolution of Chronic hepatitis C, vaccination or passive immunization aimed at high titers of NOB antibodies may be valuable new therapeutic approaches for chronic hepatitis C.

141 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
16 Jul 1990-Gene
TL;DR: Using a specific hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody assay, positive blood donors responsible for the transmission of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis (PT-NANBH) were identified and confirmed that HCV antibody-positive blood contains infectious HCV, but suggests the existence of different type(s) of HCV.

82 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that IFN-α may have an antifibrotic effect even in CH-C patients with no overt response to IFn-α therapy, compared with the effect of medications other than IFN.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifibrotic effect of interferon (IFN)-α in chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) patients with no response to IFN-α therapy. We studied 76 patients (46 men, 30 women; mean age, 55.6 years) who received IFN-α intramuscularly, at a total close of 480 to 880 MU for 6 months (group A). As a control group, we studied 50 patients (32 men and 18 women; mean age, 58.5 years) with CH-C who received medication other than IFN (ie, Strong-Neo-Minophagen C, ursodeoxycholic acid, and a herbal medicine, Sho-saiko-to [TJ-9]) and who had persistent alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation (group B). All patients were subdivided into three subgroups according to different patterns of ALT changes during the observation period, ie, (a) persistent ALT level < 60 IU/l (below about twice the upper limit of the normal range), (b) persistent ALT level ≥ 60 IU/l, (c) ALT levels other than (a) and (b). Liver biopsy was performed within 6 months prior to IFN therapy and more than 6 months after IFN therapy, while two liver biopsies were performed during therapy in group B. Liver fibrosis was compared between two specimens by staging. When the fibrosis stage was the same in the two specimens, we determined whether the fibrosis had improved or worsened by comparing the fibrotic ratio, ie, the ratio of the area of fibrosis to the area of the entire liver tissue specimen, calculated using computed graphic software. Serum aminoterminal peptide of type III procollagen (PIIIP) levels were measured on the day of the liver biopsy and their mean yearly changes were compared between the two groups. Improvement of liver fibrosis was found in 12% to 30% of patients in each ALT subgroup and in 24% of all patients in group A and there were no significant differences in liver fibrosis in comparison with findings in of group B when assessed by staging alone. However, these percentages rose to 59% to 75% and 66%, respectively, when liver fibrosis was assessed by the fibrotic ratio together with staging, resulting in a significant difference in fibrosis between groups A and B in total (P < 0.01). The mean yearly changes in serum PIIIP levels in each subgroup and in all patients in group A were below zero, indicating a tendency to improvement of fibrosis after IFN therapy, while these changes in group B were all above zero, except for subgroup (c). Improvement of fibrosis after IFN therapy was found in 15 of 24 patients (64%) whose ALT changes had the same pattern before and after IFN therapy, although no significant difference was noted between improved and worsened patients. These results suggest that IFN-α may have an antifibrotic effect even in CH-C patients with no overt response to IFN-α therapy, compared with the effect of medications other than IFN.<

33 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The presence of hepatitis C virus infection in liver tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma patients who had antibodies to HCV but no serological markers for hepatitis B virus infection by the sensitive reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction (R/PCR) method indicates that HCV persists in the liver tissue of HCC.
Abstract: We found the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in liver tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who had antibodies to HCV but no serological markers for hepatitis B virus infection by the sensitive reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction (R/PCR) method. The primers used were derived from the non-structural (NS) 3 and/or the structural (C/E) region. Amplified cDNA sequences of HCV were detected in either cancerous or non-cancerous portion of liver tissues from four out of eight HCC patients with primers of NS3 region. Similar but less efficient results were obtained with primers of C/E region. These results indicate that HCV persists in the liver tissue of HCC. A possible role of persistent infection of HCV for the development of HCC is discussed.

23 citations


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: PBC is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by high-titer serum antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMAs) and autoimmune-mediated destruction of small and medium-sized intrahepatic bile ducts as discussed by the authors.

1,289 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Patients with hepatitis C virus infection have a greatly increased risk of liver cancer.
Abstract: Background and Methods To detect potentially curable cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, outpatients with chronic hepatitis or compensated liver cirrhosis who were seen at the Center for Adult Diseases (Osaka, Japan) were examined periodically by means of ultrasonography and measurement of serum alpha-fetoprotein. Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma were identified with a Cox proportional-hazards model. Results A total of 917 patients, 40 to 69 years old, were registered from May 1987 to March 1991. By the end of September 1991, liver cancer had developed in 54. The three-year cumulative risk of liver cancer was 12.5 percent for 240 patients with liver cirrhosis at enrollment and 3.8 percent for 677 patients with chronic hepatitis. Cox regression analysis showed that the risk of liver cancer was increased almost sevenfold in patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (rate ratio, 6.92; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.92 to 16.39) and fourfold in patients with hepatitis C antibody (rate ratio, 4.09; ...

1,090 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These clinical practice guidelines summarise the evidence for the importance of a structured, life-long and individualised, approach to the care of patients with PBC, providing a framework to help clinicians diagnose and effectively manage patients.

764 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
02 Oct 1992-Science
TL;DR: Evidence indicates that HCV infection does not elicit protective immunity against reinfection with homologous or heterologous strains, which raises concerns for the development of effective vaccines against HCV.
Abstract: Some individuals infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) experience multiple episodes of acute hepatitis. It is unclear whether these episodes are due to reinfection with HCV or to reactivation of the original virus infection. Markers of viral replication and host immunity were studied in five chimpanzees sequentially inoculated over a period of 3 years with different HCV strains of proven infectivity. Each rechallenge of a convalescent chimpanzee with the same or a different HCV strain resulted in the reappearance of viremia, which was due to infection with the subsequent challenge virus. The evidence indicates that HCV infection does not elicit protective immunity against reinfection with homologous or heterologous strains, which raises concerns for the development of effective vaccines against HCV.

722 citations