HEV, TTV and GBV-C/HGV markers in patients with acute viral hepatitis

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of HEV, TTV and GBV-C/GBV-C/HGV in patients with acute viral hepatitis A, B and non-A-C. We evaluated sera of 94 patients from a sentinel program who had acute hepatitis A (N = 40), B (N = 42) and non-A-C (N = 12); 71 blood donors served as controls. IgM and anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected by enzyme immunoassay using commercial kits. TTV and GBV-C/HGV were detected by nested PCR; genotyping was done by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Anti-HEV IgG was present in 38, 10 and 17 percent of patients with hepatitis A, B and non-A-C. Four patients with hepatitis A and 1 with non-A-C hepatitis also had anti-HEV IgM detected in serum. TTV was detected in 21 percent of patients with acute hepatitis and in 31 percent of donors. GBV-C/HGV was detected in 9 percent of patients with hepatitis, and in 10 percent of donors. We found TTV isolates of genotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 and GBV-C/HGV isolates of genotypes 1 and 2. Mean aminotransferase levels were lower in patients who were TTV or GBV-C/HGV positive. In conclusion, the detection of anti-HEV IgM in some acute hepatitis A cases suggests co-infection with HEV and hepatitis E could be the etiology of a few cases of sporadic non-A-C hepatitis in Salvador, Brazil. TTV genotype 1, 2, 3 and 4 isolates and GBV-C/HGV genotype 1 and 2 strains are frequent in the studied population. TTV and GBV-C/HGV infection does not appear to have a role in the etiology of acute hepatitis.

Absence of hepatitis B virus DNA in patients with hepatitis C and non-A-E hepatitis in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been reported as cases in which HBV DNA was detected despite the absence of any HBV serological markers or in cases in which anti-HBc antibody was the sole marker. The aim of the present study was to determine, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), whether HBV infection occurs in hepatitis C and non-A-E hepatitis patients without serological evidence of hepatitis B infection in São Paulo State. Two different populations were analyzed: 1) non-A-E hepatitis patients, including 12 patients with acute and 50 patients with chronic hepatic disorders without serological evidence of infection with known hepatitis viruses; 2) 43 patients previously diagnosed as hepatitis C with positive results for anti-HCV and HCV RNA. Among hepatitis C patients, anti-HBc was detected in 18.6 percent of the subjects. Three different sets of primers were employed for HBV DNA detection by nested PCR, covering different HBV genes: C, S and X. HBV-DNA was not detected in any sample, whereas the positive controls did produce signals. The lack of HBV DNA detection with these pairs of primers could be due to a very low viral load or to the presence of mutations in their annealing sites. The latter is unlikely as these primers were screened against an extensive dataset of HBV sequences. The development of more sensitive methods, such as real time PCR, to detect circular covalent closed DNA is necessary in order to evaluate this question since previous studies have shown that cryptic hepatitis B might occur.

Detection of human parvovirus B19 in a patient with hepatitis

Parvovirus B19 has been associated by some investigators with cases of severe hepatitis. The aim of the present study was to determine the presence of active parvovirus B19 infection among 129 Brazilian patients with non-A-E hepatitis. The patients were assayed for antibodies against parvovirus B19, IgM class, by ELISA. In IgM-positive cases, parvovirus B19 DNA was assayed by PCR in serum and liver tissue and parvovirus VP1 antigen in liver tissue was assayed by immunohistochemistry. Antibodies against parvovirus B19, IgM class, were detected in 3 (2.3 percent) of 129 patients with non-A-E hepatitis. Previous surgery and blood transfusions were reported by these 3 patients. One patient was a 56-year-old female with severe hepatitis, with antimitochondrial antibody seropositivity and submassive necrosis at liver biopsy, who responded to corticosteroid therapy. Strong evidence for active parvovirus B19 infection was found in this patient, with parvovirus B19 DNA being detected by PCR in liver tissue. Furthermore, parvovirus VP1 antigen was also detected in liver tissue by immunohistochemistry. The other two IgM-positive patients were chronic hepatitis cases, but active infection was not proven, since neither viral DNA nor antigen were detected in their liver tissues. This and other reports suggest a possible relation between parvovirus B19 infection and some cases of hepatitis

Liver morphology with enphasis on bile ducts changes and survival analysis in mice submitted to multiple Schistosoma mansoni infections and chemotherapy

Numa tentativa de estar o mais próximo possível a pacientes infectados e tratados nas áreas endêmicas de esquistosomose (S. mansoni) e também para obter um período mais longo de seguimento, camundongos foram repetidamente infectado com um número baixo de cercarias. Dados de sobrevivência e variáveis histológicas tais como granuloma esquistosomótico, alteraçöes portais, necrose hepatocelular, regeneraçäo hepática, pigmento esquistosomótico, fibrose periductal e principalmente, alteraçöes dos ductos biliares foram analisados nos animais infectados tratados e näo tratados. Aa terapêutica por oxamniquina ns animais repetidamente infectados prolonga a sobrevivência de maneira singificante (Chi-quadrado 9,24, p = 0,0024), portanto confirmando resultados anteriores com um modelo semelhante mas com um período mais curto de seguimento. Ainda, a mortalidadade decresce rapidamente depois do tratamento, sugerindo uma abrupta reduçäo na gravidade das lesöes hepáticas. O fígado foi anida estudados sob o ponto de vista morfológico imunohistoquímico. Fibrose portal, com um quadro que lembra a fibrose humana do tipo Symmers está presente na fase tardia da infecçäo. As alteraçöes de ductos biliares säo muito próximas daquelas descritas na esquistosomose manônica humana. Antígeno esquistomótico foi observado e, uma célula isolada do revestimento alterado de ductos biliares. A patogênese das alteraçöes ductais e sua possível relaçäo com a infecçäo parasitária e/ou seus antígenos foi discutida

Epidemiological aspects of acute viral hepatitis in Säo Paulo, Brazil

A necessidade de maior número de dados sobre prevalência das hepatites por vírus em nosso meio levou-nos a estudar a freqüência das hepatites por vírus na Unidade de Fígado de Säo Paulo. Foram estudados 154 pacientes atendidos consecutivamente de novembro de 1980 a novembro de 1984. O emprego de marcadores para hepatite A (anti-VHA-IgM), hepatite B (AgHBs, anti-HBc e anti HBs) e a ausência dos mesmos para hepatite näo-A, näo-B (NANB), permitiu verificar a freqüência das mesmas que foi respectivamente, de 52,6%, 27,3% e 20,1%. A hepatite A caracterizou-se pela maior freqüência em jovens, contacto prévio com doente ou ingestäo de alimento suspeito. Na hepatite B os dados epidemiológicos preponderantes foram transmissäo parenteral näo-transfusional, contacto prévio e alta incidência em profissionais de saúde. Na hepatite NANB predominaram os casos pós-transfusionais (34,5%). Ausência de antecedentes epidemiológicos foi observada em 30-40% dos pacientes dos três grupos