METHODOLOGY: This is a prospective study where patients (n=119) blood was tested for anti-HAVIgG and CYP3A4*18 polymorphism.
RESULTS: The overall anti-HAV seroprevalence was 88.2%. The etiology of CLD was hepatitis B in 96 patients (80.7%) and hepatitis C in 23 patients (19.3%). There was a significant increase in the age of the prevalence of this disease after 30 years of age (p=0.008). CYP3A4*18 polymorphism was detected in 3 (2.5%) of the patients with chronic liver disease. However, there was no significant association between CP3A4*18 mutation and anti-HAV serology.
CONCLUSIONS: Age was the most important factor in determining anti-HAV positivity. It is concluded that CYP3A4*18 genetic polymorphism does not play a main role in influencing the seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis A among chronic viral hepatitis B and C liver disease patients.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of human inflammatory cytokines in chronic hepatitis B patients according to the severity of the infection.
METHODS: We recruited a total of 120 patients, 40 of whom from cirrhotic, 40 non-cirrhotic, and 40 acute flare chronic hepatitis B and 40 healthy controls. For all groups total cellular RNA was extracted from whole blood samples, genomic DNA was eliminated, and cDNA was synthesized using the RT2 first strand kit, as instructed by the manufacturer. The real-time profiler PCR array was performed on a master cycler ep realplex and the data were analyzed using an online data analysis software.
RESULTS: Non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B patients were found to significantly upregulate interleukin 10 receptors that regulate the balance between T helpers 1 and 2. On the other hand, patients with cirrhosis were found to have significant upregulated interleukin 3 gene expression.
CONCLUSION: Our finding suggests that upregulation of anti-inflammatory and downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines may play a role in the progression of non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B patients to cirrhotic and acute flare. However, a multi-center study with a larger sample size is needed to confirm our findings.
Objectives: This is a prevalence study that assessed the genetic diversity of chronic hepatitis B patients and coinfection.
Methods: Chronic hepatitis B patients enrolled in this study were tested for antibodies of other hepatitis viruses using ELISA kits. Patient clinical profiles were collected and partial genes of HBV, HCV, and HEV were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed using phylogenetic analysis. The associations between variables were determined using the chi-squared test.
Results: Of the 82 patients recruited for this study, 53.7% were non-cirrhotic, 22.0% cirrhotic, 20.7% acute flare and 3.7% hepatocellular carcinoma. Majority (58%) of patients had a high level of ALT (≥34 U/L). Sequence analysis showed HBV (63.9%) belonged to genotype B, HEV belonged to genotype 4 while HCV belonged to genotype 3a and the genotypes were found to be significantly associated with the clinical stage of the patients (χ2=56.632; p<0.01). Similarly, Hepatitis B e antigen was also found to be significantly associated with the clinical stage of infection (χ2=51.952; p<0.01).
Conclusion: This study revealed that genetic diversity was found to have a significant impact on the severity of infection.