Million people worldwide are affected by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The highest incidence of illness was between 1945 and 1975. It was also estimated that 70% of those people were not tested for the disease. Most recent treatment concepts are safe, highly effective and have a vital public health influence by achieving a viral constant response in a significant proportion of treated patients. It helps reduce liver fibrosis, liver cancer risk and dissemination. With its increased population incidence, HCV becomes a serious public health problem. This review discusses the current literature in this field in terms of the importance of screening of HCV, follow-up, treatment and includes considerations in specific populations such as patients with cirrhosis, with HIV/HCV co-infection, patients with HBV/HCV co-infection and with renal damage.
Worldwide, adults and childhood obesity are increasing alarmingly, being a major health problem. Obesity is correlated with an increased incidence of various systemic diseases including cancer, heart diseases, and diabetes mellitus type 2. Risk factors for obesity are dysbiosis, genetic, socioeconomic, behavioural and environmental. The gut microbiota has beneficial effects on human health, like host immune system stimulation, being influenced by pH, or nutrient intake. Studies performed on humans and animal models reported differences regarding microbiota at lean and obese individuals. The consumption of probiotics and prebiotics may balance the microbiota with positive effects in obesity. The main aim of this review is to reveal the interaction between dysbiosis and obesity.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease, characterized by the appearance of demyelinating lesions with inflammatory character in the CNS. Given the unpredictable evolution of the disease, numerous attempts have been initiated to find some pathogenic factors and by default targeted treatment methods. The intestinal microbiota of these patients is often significantly altered compared to the healthy population and given the complex connections between the intestine and the central nervous system, the idea of causality between dysbiosis and this condition was launched. The intestinal mucosa represents the interface between the external environment and the organism, so that it is considered the starting point of some local immunological processes but with systemic resonance, especially neurological. The classic medication scheme widely used to treat MS nowadays can also affect the integrity of the intestinal mucosa by breaking the fine balance at this level. Data from recent studies around the subject open new treatment opportunities around preserving the intestinal microbiota and strategies like vitamin A intake and fat-soluble vitamin D supplementation, probiotic complexes or faecalis microbiota transplantation appear more promising and easier to apply in daily clinical practice.
