Med. Clinic I: Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Pneumology and Allergology, Endocrinology and Diabetology, and Nutritional Medicine -
Prof. Dr. Christoph Sarrazin

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Expertise

• Treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C
  
• Viral determinants of resistance to treatment of hepatitis C
  
• Clinically characterized HCV replicons and pseudotypes
  
• Molecular diagnostics of hepatitis B and C
  
• Ultrasound-based evaluation of liver fibrosis
  
  

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Resources and Abilities

• Extraction and amplification of nucleic acids (RT, PCR, real-time PCR, TMA)
  
• Signalamplification of nucleic acids (bDNA)
  
• DNA sequencing
  
• Cloning, restriction enzyme digestion, transfection, transformation
  
• Nothern-blotting
  
• Cell culture
  
• Microscopy
  
• 2D-gel electrophoresis
  
• Immunhistochemistry
  
• Infrared spectrometry
  
• FACS
  
  

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Staff

• Simone Susser, Dipl.-Biol.
  
• Anette Dragan, Dipl.-Biol.
  
• Dr. Hofmann
  
• Dr. Mihm
  
• Dr. von Wagner
  
• Dr. Welker
  
• Dr. Vermehren
  
• Dr. Kau
  
• Dr. Polta
  
• Dr. Lange

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Publications

• Friedrich-Rust M, Ong MF, Martens S, Sarrazin C, Bojunga J, Zeuzem S, Herrmann E. Performance of transient elastography for the staging of liver fibrosis: a meta-analysis. Gastroenterology (2008) 143: 960-974.
  
• Dinesen L, Caspary WF, Chapman RW, Dietrich CF, Sarrazin C, Braden B. 13C-Methacetin breath test compared to also noninvasive biochemical blood tests in predicting hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C. Dig Liver Dis (2008) epub
  
• Friedrich-Rust M, Koch C, Rentzsch A, Sarrazin C, Schwarz P, Herrmann E, Lindinger A, Sarrazin U, Poynard T, Schäfers H-J, Zeuzem S, Abdul-Khaliq H. Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in patients with Fontan circulation using transient elastography and biochemical fibrosis markers. J Thorac Cardiovac Surg (2008) 135: 560-567.
  
• Welsch C, Domingues FS, Susser S, Antes I, Hartmann C, Mayr G, Schlicker A, Sarrazin C, Albrecht M, Zeuzem S, Lengauer T. Molecular basis of telaprevir due to V36 and T54 mutations in the NS3-4A protease of hepatitis C virus. Genome Biol (2008) epub
  
• Wobrock T, Mihm U, Löhr C, Hofmann WP, Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S, Falkai P. Cognition in hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon. World J Biol Psych (2008) in press
  
• Colucci G, Ferguson J, Harkleroad C, Lee S, Romo D, Soviero S, Thompson J, Velez M, Wang A, Miyahara Y, Young S, Sarrazin C. Improved Cobas TaqMan HCV test, version 2 for use with the high pure system: enhanced genotype reactivity and performance characteristics in a multi-site study. J Clin Microbiol (2007) 45: 3595-3600.
  
• Welsch C, Albrecht M, Maydt J, Herrmann E, Welker MW, Sarrazin C, Scheidig A, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S. Structural and functional comparison of the non-structural protein 4B in flaviviridae. J Mol Graph Model (2007) 26: 546-557.
  
• Kronenberger B, Piiper A, von Wagner M, Mihm U, Hofmann P, Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S. Dynamics of apoptotic activity during antiviral treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Antivir Therapy (2007) 12: 779-787.
  
• Kieffer TL, Sarrazin C, Miller J, Welker MW, Forestier N, Kwong AD, Zeuzem S. Telaprevir and pegylated IFN-alfa-2a inhibit wild-type and resistant genotype 1 HCV replication in patients. Hepatology (2007) 46: 631-639.
  
• Hofmann WP, Welsch C, Takahashi H, Miyajima H, Krick C, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Identification and in silico characterization of a novel compound heterozygosity associated with hereditary aceruloplasminemia Scand J Gastro 2007, 42:1088-1094.
  
• Wiegand J, Cornberg M, Aslan N, Sarrazin C, Kubitschke A, Buggisch P, Ciner A, Jäckel E, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H. Fate and function of peripheral HCV specific T cells during peginterferon alpha-2b therapy of acute hepatitis C. Antivir Ther (2007) 12:303-316.
  
• Hofmann WP, Fernandez B, Herrmann E, Welsch C, Mihm U, Feldmann G, Spengler U, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Somatic hypermutation and mRNA expression levels of the BCL-6 gene in patients with hepatitis C virus-associated lymphoproliferative diseases. J Viral Hepatit (2007) 14: 484-491.
  
• Kubitschke A, Bahr MJ, Aslan N, Bader C, Tillmann HL, Sarrazin C, Greten T, Wiegand J, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H. Induction of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific T cells by needle stick injury in the absence of HCV-viraemia. Eur J Clin Invest (2007) 37: 54-64.
  
• Sarrazin C, Kieffer T, Bartels D, Hanzelka B, Müh U, Welker M, Wincheringer D, Zhou Y, Lin C, Rao G, Weegink C, Reesink H, Zeuzem S, Kwong AD. Novel genotypic and phenotypic analysis of dynamic changes in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) population in patients treated with telaprevir, a HCV protease inhibitor. Gastroenterology (2007) 132: 1767-1777.
  
• Friedrich-Rust M, Forestier N, Sarrazin C, Herrmann E, Zeuzem S. Ultrasound evaluation of perihepatic lymph nodes during antiviral therapy with the protease inhibitor telaprevir (VX-950) in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Ultrasound in Med and Biol (2007) 33: 1362-1367.
  
• Sarrazin C, Rouzier R, Wagner F, Forestier N, Larrey D, Gupta SK, Hussain M, Shah A, Cutler D, Zhang J, Zeuzem S. SCH 503034, a novel hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor, plus pegylated interferon α-2b for genotype 1 non-responders. Gastroenterology (2007) 132: 1270-1278.
  
• Hofmann WP, Polta A, Herrmann E, Mihm U, Kronenberger B, Sonntag T, Lohmann V, Schönberger B, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Mutagenic effect of ribavirin on hepatitis C nonstructural 5B quasispecies in vitro and during antiviral therapy. Gastroenterology (2007) 132: 921-930.
  
• Friedrich-Rust M, Ong MF, Herrmann E, Dries V, Samaras P, Remberger K, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C, Realtime-elastography for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis. Am J Roentgenol (2007) 188: 758-764.
  
• Schneider A, Caspary WF, Saich R, Dietrich C, Sarrazin C, Kuker W, Braden B. C-methacetin breath test shortened: Two-point-measurements after 15 minutes reliable indicate the presence of liver cirrhosis. J Clin Gastroenterol (2007) 41:33-37.
  
• Goyal A, Hofmann WP, Herrmann E, Traver S, Hissar SS, Arora N, Blum HE, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C, Sarin SK. The hepatitis C virus NS5A protein and response to interferon alfa: mutational analysis in patients with patients with chronic HCV genotype 3a infection from India. Med Microbiol Immunol (2007) 196: 11-21.
  
• Welker M, Hofmann WP, Welsch C, von Wagner M, Herrmann E, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Correlation of non-structural(NS)4B amino acid variations of HCV genotype 1b isolates with initial viral kinetics during interferon alfa-based therapy. J Viral Hepatit (2007) 14: 338-349.
  
• von Wagner M, Lee J-H, Kronenberger B, Friedl R, Sarrazin C, Teuber G, Herrmann E, Zeuzem S. Impaired health-related quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal aminotransferase levels. J Viral Hepatit (2006) 13: 828:834.
  
• Bojunga J, Sarrazin C, Hess G, Zeuzem S. Elevated plasma levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in patients with chronic hepatitis C during interferon-based antiviral therapy. World J Gastro (2006) 12: 5875-5877.
  
• Perrin L, Pawlotsky JM, Bouvier-Alias M, Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S. Colucci G. Multicenter performance evaluation of a new Taqman PCR assay for monitoring human immunodeficiency virus RNA load. J Clin Microbiol (2006)44: 4371-4375.
  
• van Bömmel F, Zöllner F, Sarrazin C, Spengler U, Hüppe D, Möller B, Feucht HH, Wiedenmann B, Berg T. Tenofovir for patients with lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and high HBV DNA level during adefovir therapy. Hepatology (2006) 44: 318-325.
  
• Kronenberger B, Herrmann E, Hofmann WP, Wedemeyer H, Sester M, Mihm H, Ghaliai T, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Dynamics of CD81 expression on lymphocyte subsets during interferon-{alpha}-based antiviral treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Leukoc Biol (2006) 80: 298-308.
  
• Berg T, von Wagner M, Hinrichsen H, Sarrazin C, Heintges T, Gerlach T, Buggisch P, Goeser T, Rasenack J, Pape GR, Schmidt WE, Kallinowski B, Klinker H, Spengler U, Martus B, Alshuth U, Zeuzem S. Extended Treatment Duration for Hepatitis C Virus Type 1: A Randomized Trial Comparing 48 versus 72 Weeks of Peginterferon-alfa-2a plus Ribavirin. Gastroenterology (2006) 130: 1086-1097.
  
• Mihm U, Grigorian N, Welsch C, Herrmann E, Kronenberger B, Teuber G, von Wagner M, Hofmann WP, Albrecht M, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Amino acid variations in hepatitis C virus p7 and sensitivity to antiviral combination therapy with amantadine in chronic hepatitis C. Antivir Ther (2006) 11: 507-519.
  
• Sarrazin C, Gärtner B, Sizmann D, Babiel R, Mihm U, Hofmann WP, von Wagner M, Zeuzem S. HCV RNA quantification of HCV genotypes 1 to 5: comparison of conventional PCR with real time PCR and bDNA based assays and clinical significance. J Clin Microbiol (2006) 44: 729-737.
  
• Herrmann E, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C, Hinrichsen H, Benhamou Y, Wedemeyer H, Steinmann G, Nehmiz G. Viral kinetics in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus treated with the serine protease inhibitor BILN 2061. Antivir Ther (2006) 11: 371-376.
  
• Hofmann WP, Bock H, Weber C, Tacke W, Pfaff R, Kihn R, Moog G, Kellner HU, Kellner HU, Schöfer M, Frick G, Rambow A, Friedrich-Rust M, Herrmann E,Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S. Effektivität von pegyliertem Interferon alfa in Kombination mit Ribavirin in der Behandlung von Patienten mit chronischer Hepatitis C in der gastroenterologischen Facharztpraxis. Z Gastroenterol (2006) 44: 25-31.
  
• Sarrazin C, Mihm U, Herrmann E, Welsch C, Albrecht M, Sarrazin U, Traver S, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S. Clinical significance of in vitro replication enhancing mutations of the hepatitis C virus replicon in patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Infect Dis (2005) 192: 1710-1719.
  
• Sarrazin C, Berg T, Weich V, Mueller T, Frey UH, Zeuzem S, Gerken G, Roggendorf M, Siffert W. GNB3 C825T polymorphism and response to interferon-alfa /ribavirin treatment in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1) infection. J Hepatol 2005, 43: 388-393.
  
• Mihm U, Gärtner B, Faust D, Hofmann WP, Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S, Herrmann E. Viral kinetics in patients with lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B during adefovir-lamivudine combination therapy. J Hepatol (2005) 43: 217-24.
  
• Kronenberger B, von Wagner M, Herrmann E, Mihm U, Piiper A, Sarrazin C, Zeuzem S. Apoptotic cytokeratin 18 neoepitopes in serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Viral Hepatit (2005) 12: 307-314.
  
• Mihm U, Hofamnn WP, Kronenberger B, von Wagner M, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Higly sensitive HCV RNA detection assays for decision of treatment (dis)continuation in patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol (2005) 42: 605-606.
  
• Hofmann WP, Dries V, Herrmann E, Gärtner B, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Comparison of transcription mediated amplification (TMA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of hepatitis C virus RNA in liver tissue. J Clin Virol (2005) 32:289-293.
  
• Braden B, Faust D, Sarrazin U, Zeuzem S, Dietrich CF, Caspary WF, Sarrazin C. 13C-Methacetin breath test as liver function test in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Alim Pharmacol Ther (2005) 21:179-185.
  
• Potthoff A, Sarhaddar J, Wiegand J, Lichtinghagen R, Sarrazin C, Ciner A, Hadem J, Trautwein C, Manns MP, Wedemeyer H. Spontaneous resolution of chronic hepatitis C virus infection after antiviral treatment and relapse. Hepatol Res (2005) 31:18-23.
  
• Müller T, Mas-Marques A, Sarrazin C, Wiese M, Halangk J, Witt H, Ahlenstiel G, Spengler U, Goebel U, Wiedenmann B, Schreier E, Berg T. Influence of interleukon 12B (IL12B) polymorphisms on spontaneous and treatment-induced recovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. J Hepatol 2004, 41: 652-658.
  
• Kronenberger B, Sarrazin C, Hofmann WP, von Wagner M, Herrmann E, Welsch C, Elez R, Rüster B, Piiper A, Zeuzem S. Mutations in the putative HCV-E2 CD81 binding regions and correlation with cell surface CD81 expression. J Viral Hepatit (2004) 11: 310-318.
  
• Hofmann WP, Herrmann E, Kronenberger B, Merkwirth C, Welsch C, Lengauer T, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Association of HCV-related mixed cryoglobulinemia with specific mutational pattern of the HCV E2 protein and CD81 expression on peripheral B lymphocytes. Blood (2004) 104: 1228-1229.
  
• Zeuzem S, Hultcrantz R, Bourliere M, Goeser T, Marcellin P, Sanchez-Tapias J, Sarrazin C, Harvey J, Brass C, Albrecht J. Peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin for treatment of chronic hepatitis C in previously untreated patients infected with HCV genotypes 2 or 3. J Hepatol (2004) 40: 993-999.
  
• Berg T, Sarrazin C, Hinrichsen H, Buggisch P, Gerlach T, Zachoval R, Zeuzem S. Does non-invasive staging of fibrosis challenge liver biopsy as a gold standard in chronic hepatitis C? Hepatology (2004) 39: 1456-1457.
  
• Mihm U, Herrmann E, Sarrazin U, von Wagner M, Kronenberger B, Zeuzem S, Sarrazin C. Correlation of serum interleukin-8 with virologic response to antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol (2004) 40: 845-852.
  
• Müller T, Geßner R, Sarrazin C, Graf C, Halangk J, Witt H, Köttgen E, Wiedenmann B, Berg T. Apolipoprotein E4 allele is associated with poor treatment response in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. Hepatology 2003, 38:1592.
  
• Kerber A, Sarrazin C, Allers C, Markus B, Engels K, Caspary W, Zeuzem S. 44-year old patient with fulminant hepatic failure (case report). Internist (2003) 44: 1301-1307.
  
• von Wagner M, Lee J-H, Rüster B, Kronenberger B, Sarrazin C, Roth WK, Zeuzem S. Dynamics of hepatitis C virus quasispecies turnover during interferon-α treatment. J Viral Hepatit (2003) 6: 413-422.
  
• Zeuzem S, Heathcote JE, Shiffman ML, Wright TL, Bain V, Sherman M, Feinman SV, Fried MW, Rasenack J, Sarrazin C, Jensen DM, Lin A, Hoffman JH, Sedarati F. Twelve weeks of follow-up is sufficient for the determination of sustained virologic response in patients treated with interferon alfa for chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol (2003) 39: 106-111.
  
• Mihm U, Sarrazin C, Herrmann E, Teuber G, von Wagner M, Kronenberger B, Zeuzem S. Response predictors and results of a long-term treatment with lamivudine in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Z Gastroenterol (2003) 41: 249-254.
  
• Berg T and Sarrazin C, Hinrichsen H, Gerlach T, Zachoval R, Herrmann E, Wiedenmann B, Hopf U, Zeuzem S. Prediction of treatment outcome in patients with chronic hepatitis C: significance of baseline parameters and viral dynamics during therapy. Hepatology (2003) 37: 600-609.
  
• Hofmann WP, Sarrazin C, Kronenberger B, Schönberger B, Bruch K, Zeuzem S. Mutations within the CD81-binding sites and HVR2 of the E2 protein and correlation with treatment response in hepatitis C virus infected patients. J Infect Dis (2003) 187: 982-987.
  
• Sarrazin C, Herrmann E, Bruch K, Zeuzem S. Hepatitis C virus non-structural (NS)5A protein and interferon resistance: a new model for testing the reliability of mutational analyses. J Virol (2002) 76: 11079-11090.