This week’s article selects feature articles about factors that support (or degrade) the body’s protection against the ravages of the hepatitis virus: CLICK HERE FOR FREE PUBLICATIONS ABOUT HEPATITIS, SOME IN ASIAN AND SPANISH LANGUAGES. HBV: A report from a popular web news service (Medical News Today) on data from a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation noted, “Scientists have identified a key difference between people who can fight the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) off successfully and those who fail to do…The researchers analysed thousands of genes in T cells, critical players of the immune system required for control of HBV. They found that T cells from patients who were chronically infected were triggered to 'commit suicide'. This could be an important factor in determining why these patients' immune systems cannot fight the infection” …Read more. HBV: “The relationship between progression of liver disease due to chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important aspect of the overall management of patients with hepatitis B, yet it is not well characterized”, write the authors of a study published in the April 2008 issue of Hepatology”…Read more. HCV/HIV coinfection: “An estimated 25% or so of people with chronic hepatitis C go on to develop severe outcomes such as liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). Numerous host, viral, and environmental factors contribute to this variable rate of disease progression, not all of which are fully understood” …Over the past decade, "several studies have shown that a combination of HCV infection and high levels of alcohol abuse results in synergistic acceleration of liver fibrogenesis." More recent data indicate that even light alcohol consumption may also worsen fibrosis progression, and one study suggested that enhanced fibrosis associated with cigarette smoking may be due to cytokine changes triggered by low oxygen levels. Authors of the April 2008 Journal of Hepatology concluded, "Patients should be informed of the deleterious impact of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use, and should be offered appropriate support to achieve abstinence"…Read more. HBV/HCV/HIV coinfection: “Oxidative stress – the build-up of highly reactive forms of oxygen and other so-called “free radicals” in the body – has been linked to a wide range of detrimental effects, including liver damage. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) itself promotes oxidative stress, and this effect is magnified in people coinfected with HIV. Oxidative stress, in turn, facilitates HCV replication. Antioxidants have been studied for liver diseases including chronic hepatitis C. The benefits of many complementary and alternative therapies…Read more.  CLICK HERE FOR THE APRIL “NIH NEWS IN HEALTH” FEATURING HOW TO PREVENT HEPATITIS TRANSMISSION. Editors—Isis Chen Lan Lum and Lillian Thiemann