ABSTRACT
In patients with chromic liver diseases, the measurement of serum alpha fetoprotein level is an invaluable laboratory investigation to assess the disease progress and to detect early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. A total of 150 sera samples were collected from normal individuals, hepatitis B surface antigen carriers, patients with hepatomagaly, fatty liver, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The sera were examined for serum alpha fetoprotein levels by radia-immunoassay technique, one of the most sensitive methods available. The results showed that the sera alpha fetoprotein levels correlate with the severity of the liver diseases as all of normal individuals, hepatitis-B surface antigen carriers, hepatomegaly and fatty liver patients showed normal levels and 5-17 percent of chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis patients were low positive. Also 73 percent of hepatocellular carcinoma patients were positive with 50 percent of them revealing high levels of alpha fetoprotein.
Subject(s)
Liver Diseases , alpha-Fetoproteins , MyanmarABSTRACT
During 1989, 200 sera, Positive for Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody by both Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ElISA) and Western Blot Immunoassay were selected randomly to be tested for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) markers. 75
of the sera belonged to intravenous drug abusers with the remaining from hospitalized patients, blood donors and persons attending the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Clinics. HBsAg was positive in 12.5
, HBeAg in 3
, anti-HBs in 34.5
and anti-HBc in 86
of the test group. Since the epidemiology of HIV and HBV infections are similar regarding the modes of transmission (parenteral, perinatal and sexual), the risk groups affected and the occurrence of chronic asymptomatic infection creating a reservoir for further spread, HIV infected persons can be assumed to have a high infection rate for HBV. In our study, the infection rate for HBV was very high being 92
.