6533b86efe1ef96bd12cbfe6

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Occult hepatitis B virus in liver tissue of individuals without hepatic disease

C. SciscaLucy CostantinoGaetano Di VitaGiovanni RaimondoStefania MondelloTeresa PollicinoGiovanni SquadritoEugenio CucinottaGuido ColloredoGiuseppe Navarra

subject

AdultMaleHepatitis B virusHBsAgHepatitis C virusPopulationhepatitis B virus liver tissuemedicine.disease_causeLiver diseaseNormal liverOrthohepadnavirusOccult HBVOccult HBV; HBV DNA; Normal liver; Anti-HBc; HBV-seronegativemedicineHumansHBV-seronegativeHepatitis B AntibodieseducationAgedHepatitis B viruseducation.field_of_studyHepatologybiologybusiness.industryvirus diseasesMiddle AgedHepatitis Bmedicine.diseasebiology.organism_classificationHepatitis B Core AntigensOccultdigestive system diseasesLiverHepadnaviridaeHBV DNACarrier StateDNA ViralImmunologyFemalebusinessAnti-HBc

description

Abstract BACKGROUND/AIMS: While many data are available concerning occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with hepatic disorders, there is little information about this cryptic infection in individuals without liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV in the general population by examining liver specimens from a large series of HBV-surface-antigen negative individuals with no clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease. METHODS: The presence of HBV DNA was evaluated by testing, through polymerase chain reaction techniques, DNA extracts from 98 liver-disease-free individuals who underwent liver resection or needle biopsy during abdominal surgery. Sixteen of them were anti-HBV-core antigen (anti-HBc) positive and 82 were HBV serum-marker negative. All patients were negative for antibody to hepatitis C virus. RESULTS: Occult HBV infection was revealed in 16 of the 98 cases (16.3%). In particular, 10/16 anti-HBc positive (62.5%) versus 6/82 (7.3%) HBV-seronegative individuals were occult carriers (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that about 1/6 of the Italian general population might be carriers of occult HBV infection, and this condition is significantly associated with the anti-HBc positive status.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2008-01-01Journal of Hepatology
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2008.01.023