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Hepatitis B In China
Hepatitis B is endemic in China. Of the 350 million individuals worldwide infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), one-third reside in China. As of 2006 China has immunized 11.1 million children in its poorest provinces as part of several programs initiated by the Chinese government and as part of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). However, the effects of these programs have yet to reach levels of immunization that would limit the spread of hepatitis B effectively. Epidemiology Prevalence Of the 350 million to 400 million individuals worldwide infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), one-third reside in China, with 130 million carriers and 30 million chronically infected. Since the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) beginning 1992, the prevalence of HBV has declined, especially among children 3 to 12 years old. During a 5-year period, 10.0% of patients with chronic hepatitis developed cirrhosis, and 20.3% of the cases with compensated cirrhosis progr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. For others, symptoms may appear 30 to 180 days after becoming infected and can include a rapid onset of sickness with nausea, vomiting, yellowish skin, fatigue, dark urine, and abdominal pain. Symptoms during acute infection typically last for a few weeks, though some people may feel sick for up to six months. Deaths resulting from acute stage HBV infections are rare. An HBV infection lasting longer than six months is usually considered chronic. The likelihood of developing chronic hepatitis B is higher for those who are infected with HBV at a younger age. About 90% of those infected during or shortly after birth develop chronic hepatitis B, while less than 10% of those infected after the age of five develop chronic cases. Most of those wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development aid, developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering Antiretroviral drug, treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters. UNICEF is the successor of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, created on 11 December 1946, in New York, by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Administration to provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Chinese Herbs
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action. Medicine in traditional China encompassed a range of sometimes competing health and healing practices, folk beliefs, literati theory and Confucian philosophy, herbal remedies, food, diet, exercise, medical specializations, and schools of thought. In the early twentieth century, Chinese cultural and political modernizers worked to eliminate traditional practices as backward and unscientific. Traditional practitioners then selected elements of philosophy and practice and organized them into what they called "Chinese medicine" (''Zhongyi''). In the 1950s, the Chinese government sponsored the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, promoted Chinese medicine as inexpensive a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life forms. Every cell consists of a cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane, and contains many biomolecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA, as well as many small molecules of nutrients and metabolites.Cell Movements and the Shaping of the Vertebrate Body in Chapter 21 of Molecular Biology of the Cell '' fourth edition, edited by Bruce Alberts (2002) published by Garland Science. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos. It is also common to describe small molecules such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it is located in the quadrant (anatomy), right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the thoracic diaphragm, diaphragm. Its other roles in metabolism include the regulation of Glycogen, glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, and the production of hormones. The liver is an accessory digestive organ that produces bile, an alkaline fluid containing cholesterol and bile acids, which helps the fatty acid degradation, breakdown of fat. The gallbladder, a small pouch that sits just under the liver, stores bile produced by the liver which is later moved to the small intestine to complete digestion. The liver's highly specialized biological tissue, tissue, consisting mostly of hepatocytes, regulates a w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covalent
A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms, when they share electrons, is known as covalent bonding. For many molecules, the sharing of electrons allows each atom to attain the equivalent of a full valence shell, corresponding to a stable electronic configuration. In organic chemistry, covalent bonding is much more common than ionic bonding. Covalent bonding also includes many kinds of interactions, including σ-bonding, π-bonding, metal-to-metal bonding, agostic interactions, bent bonds, three-center two-electron bonds and three-center four-electron bonds. The term ''covalent bond'' dates from 1939. The prefix ''co-'' means ''jointly, associated in action, partnered to a lesser degree, '' etc.; thus a "co-valent bond", in essence, means that the atoms share " valence", such a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entecavir
Entecavir (ETV), sold under the brand name Baraclude, is an antiviral medication used in the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In those with both HIV/AIDS and HBV antiretroviral medication should also be used. Entecavir is taken by mouth as a tablet or solution. Common side effects include headache, nausea, high blood sugar, and decreased kidney function. Severe side effects include enlargement of the liver, high blood lactate levels, and liver inflammation if the medication is stopped. While there appears to be no harm from use during pregnancy, this use has not been well studied. Entecavir is in the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) family of medications. It prevents the hepatitis B virus from multiplying by blocking reverse transcriptase. Entecavir was approved for medical use in 2005. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Available as a generic medication in the United States. Medical uses Entecavir is ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adefovir Dipivoxil
Adefovir is a prescription medicine used to treat (chronic) infections with hepatitis B virus. A prodrug form of adefovir was previously called bis-POM PMEA, with trade names Preveon and Hepsera. It is an orally administered nucleotide analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (ntRTI). It can be formulated as the pivoxil prodrug adefovir dipivoxil. Uses It is used for treatment of hepatitis B. Trials of adefovir in patients with HIV have not shown any clear benefits. History Adefovir was invented in the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic by Antonín Holý, and the drug was developed by Gilead Sciences for HIV with the brand name Preveon. However, in November 1999, an expert panel advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not to approve the drug due to concerns about the severity and frequency of kidney toxicity when dosed at 60 or 120 mg. The FDA followed that advice, refusing to approve adefovir as a treatment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamivudine
Lamivudine, commonly called 3TC, is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is also used to treat chronic hepatitis B when other options are not possible. It is effective against both HIV-1 and HIV-2. It is typically used in combination with other antiretrovirals such as zidovudine and abacavir. Lamivudine may be included as part of post-exposure prevention in those who have been potentially exposed to HIV. Lamivudine is taken by mouth as a liquid or tablet. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, headaches, feeling tired, and cough. Serious side effects include liver disease, lactic acidosis, and worsening hepatitis B among those already infected. It is safe for people over three months of age and can be used during pregnancy. The medication can be taken with or without food. Lamivudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and works by blocking the HIV reverse transcriptase and hepatitis B virus polymerase. Lamivudine was patent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nucleotide Analogues
Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) are a class of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection or AIDS, and in some cases hepatitis B. RTIs inhibit activity of reverse transcriptase, a viral DNA polymerase that is required for replication of HIV and other retroviruses. Mechanism of action When HIV infects a cell, reverse transcriptase copies the viral single stranded RNA genome into a double-stranded viral DNA. The viral DNA is then integrated into the host chromosomal DNA, which then allows host cellular processes, such as transcription and translation, to reproduce the virus. RTIs block reverse transcriptase's enzymatic function and prevent completion of synthesis of the double-stranded viral DNA, thus preventing HIV from multiplying. A similar process occurs with other types of viruses. The hepatitis B virus, for example, carries its genetic material in the form of DNA, and employs an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase to replicate. Some of the same compounds used as RTIs c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pegylation
PEGylation (or pegylation) is the process of both covalent and non-covalent attachment or amalgamation of polyethylene glycol (PEG, in pharmacy called macrogol) polymer chains to molecules and macrostructures, such as a drug, therapeutic protein or vesicle, which is then described as PEGylated. PEGylation affects the resulting derivatives or aggregates interactions, which typically slows down their coalescence and degradation as well as elimination in vivo. PEGylation is routinely achieved by the incubation of a reactive derivative of PEG with the target molecule. The covalent attachment of PEG to a drug or therapeutic protein can "mask" the agent from the host's immune system (reducing immunogenicity and antigenicity), and increase its hydrodynamic size (size in solution), which prolongs its circulatory time by reducing renal clearance. PEGylation can also provide water solubility to hydrophobic drugs and proteins. Having proven its pharmacological advantages and acceptability, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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