ABSTRACT
Purpose: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCV being a ribonucleic acid virus has considerable sequence variability. Assessment of viral load and genotype is necessary for designing treatment strategies and monitoring for viral resistance among HCV-infected cases. HCC is the most common form of liver cancer, often occurring in people with chronic hepatitis B or C. We undertook this study to observe genotype distribution of the virus in HCV patients from Mumbai. Materials and Methods: Between January 2017 and December 2017, the study was conducted on 120 chronic hepatitis outpatients from a tertiary care hospital, Mumbai, after obtaining ethics approval. All these diagnosed cases of HCV were subjected to molecular diagnosis in a research institute, Mumbai, by real-time polymerase chain reaction-based techniques. Results: Males were more preponderant than females with HCV infection, and the highest number of HCV-infected cases was observed in the age group of 41–50 years. Genotype 3 (n = 70; 58.3%) accounted for the highest number of cases followed by genotypes 1b (n = 29; 24.2%) and then 1a (n = 14; 11.7%). Mixed genotypes 1b + 3 and individual genotype 4 were found in two cases each (1.7%). A total of three samples (2.5%) were found with untypeable genotype. Conclusion: The major HCV genotype observed was 3 which is difficult to treat with direct-acting antivirals, owing to the more rapid progression of liver disease, increased rates of steatosis (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), a higher risk for cancer (HCC). We believe this study is the first one to address the prevalence of mixed genotypes and untypeable genotype from India.
ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Conflicting reports exist regarding the HIV-1 infection on the risk of malaria. A transient almost one-log elevation in HIV viral load occurs during febrile malaria episodes. We prospectively studied malaria patients for HIV infection from Mumbai. Methods: A total of 171 malaria patients and 28,749 normal voluntary blood donors were studied for their HIV status. Diagnosis of malaria was done by microscopical examination of blood. HIV screening was done by detection of HIV-1 & 2 antibodies by micro well ELISA using Enzaids & J Mitra kits followed by confirmation using western blot (Innogenetics, Belgium) analysis. Results: Out of 171 malaria patients 13 (7.6%; Odds ratio= 4.45; p <0.0001) and 521 blood bank donors were found to be HIV reactive. Among 13 HIV reactive patients, eight patients were Elisa borderline reactive and western blot positive (p24), which may be due to cross-reactive antibodies. Five of 13 malaria patients found to be HIV-1 positive by ELISA and by western blot confirming HIV and malaria co-infection. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that HIV-1 and malaria co-infection can’t be ruled out in malaria endemic countries like India.
ABSTRACT
Pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics are promising in development of a personalized treatment approach They are of paramount importance for basic immunology, for peptide based vaccine design (vaccinomics) drug monitoring in clinical setting and molecular pathophysiology of multifactorial diseases like cancer, tuberculosis, cardiac disorders, diabetes, asthma, HIV, etc