Occult hepatitis B virus infection in liver transplant patients in a Brazilian referral center
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
47(11): 990-994, 11/2014. tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-723905
ABSTRACT
Estimates of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection prevalence varies among different studies depending on the prevalence of HBV infection in the study population and on the sensitivity of the assay used to detect HBV DNA. We investigated the prevalence of occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver transplantation in a Brazilian referral center. Frozen liver samples from 68 adults were analyzed using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay for HBV DNA. The specificity of the amplified HBV sequences was confirmed by direct sequencing of the amplicons. The patient population comprised 49 (72.1%) males and 19 (27.9%) females with a median age of 53 years (range=18-67 years). Occult HBV infection was diagnosed in three (4.4%) patients. The etiologies of the underlying chronic liver disease in these cases were alcohol abuse, HBV infection, and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Two of the patients with cryptic HBV infection also presented hepatocellular carcinoma. Markers of previous HBV infection were available in two patients with occult HBV infection and were negative in both. In conclusion, using a sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction assay to detect HBV DNA in frozen liver tissue, we found a low prevalence of occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver transplant, probably due to the low prevalence of HBV infection in our population.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
DNA, Viral
/
Hepatitis B virus
/
Liver Transplantation
/
Hepatitis B, Chronic
/
Liver Cirrhosis
Type of study:
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Journal subject:
Biology
/
Medicine
Year:
2014
Type:
Article
/
Project document
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais/BR
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS