Open AccessOccult hepatitis B virus among chronic liver disease patients in Yemen
Author(s) -
AM Thabit,
KA Al-Moyed,
Al-Balushi,
Sidgi S. Hasson,
TA Sallam
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(12)60002-4
Subject(s) - occult , medicine , hbsag , hepatitis b virus , virology , liver disease , antibody , serology , chronic liver disease , hepatitis b , gastroenterology , immunology , virus , pathology , cirrhosis , alternative medicine
Objective: To estimate the rate of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) among patients with chronic\udliver disease (CLD). Methods: After an informed consent, sera samples were collected during\udApril 2004 to April 2005 from 280 patients (200 male and 80 female). They were previously diagnosed\udwith CLD based on history and ultrasound and were investigated for occult HBV infection. Sera\udwere first screened for HBsAg and those which showed negative were tested for anti-HBc. The\udanti-HBc positive sera were further tested for anti-HBs to identify sera with isolated anti-HBc\udwhich in turn were subjected to HBV-DNA testing using PCR to determine the rate of occult HBV\udinfection. Moreover, sera with occult HBV were tested for Anti-HCV and HCV-RNA using RTPCR. Results: HBsAg was detected in 44 of 280 (15.7%). Of 236 HBsAg negative sera anti-HBc was\uddetected in 22 (9.3%). All anti-HBc positive sera were found to be anti-HBs negative. HBV-DNA\udwas detected in 11 of 22 (50.0%) sera with isolated anti-HBc indicating occult HBV in 4.3% of all\udsera. None of the sera with occult HBV had anti-HCV or HCV- RNA. Conclusions: Occult HBV\udinfection does exist among CLD patients in Yemen and the mechanism of its occurrence merits\udfurther investigation