Occult hepatitis B virus in liver tissue of individuals without hepatic disease.

Abstract BACKGROUND/AIMS: While many data are available concerning occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with hepatic disorders, there is little information about this cryptic infection in individuals without liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV in the general population by examining liver specimens from a large series of HBV-surface-antigen negative individuals with no clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease. METHODS: The presence of HBV DNA was evaluated by testing, through polymerase chain reaction techniques, DNA extracts from 98 liver-disease-free individuals who underwent liver resection or needle biopsy during abdominal surgery. Sixteen of them were anti-HBV-core antigen (anti-HBc) positive and 82 were HBV serum-marker negative. All patients were negative for antibody to hepatitis C virus. RESULTS: Occult HBV infection was revealed in 16 of the 98 cases (16.3%). In particular, 10/16 anti-HBc positive (62.5%) versus 6/82 (7.3%) HBV-seronegative individuals were occult carriers (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that about 1/6 of the Italian general population might be carriers of occult HBV infection, and this condition is significantly associated with the anti-HBc positive status

Hepatitis C virus RNA profiles in chronically infected individuals: do they relate to disease activity?

none12Fluctuations of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA serum levels were monitored in a multicenter study in 76 chronic HCV carriers who had been followed longitudinally without receiving antiviral therapy to assess their relation with the course of liver disease activity. Forty-four patients had normal transaminases over more than 2 years, while 32 additional patients had fluctuating levels. Viral load was measured in serial serum samples prospectively collected for 10 to 12 months in 54 patients and in sera stored yearly up to 8 years in an additional 22 patients. In patients tested monthly, a lesser extent of fluctuations was detected in cases with constantly normal transaminases as compared with those with fluctuating transaminases. In the former group, the mean difference between maximum and minimum values observed in each individual patient was 0.7 Log, while in the latter group, it was 1.3 Log (P =.0004). Most of these patients experienced, on average, three peaks of viremia over 1 year. The range of variation observed upon yearly testing was between 0.2 and 2.2 Log and did not reach statistical significance between the two groups. In conclusion, a careful viral replication profile can be achieved only by monthly testing, because longer time intervals could miss viremia fluctuations. HCV-RNA levels are more stable in asymptomatic HCV carriers than in patients with biochemical activity of liver disease.nonePONTISSO P.; BELLATI G.; BRUNETTO M.; L. CHEMELLO; COLLOREDO G.; DI STEFANO R.; NICOLETTI M.; RUMI MG.; RUVOLETTO MG.; SOFFREDINI R.; VALENZA LM; COLUCCI G.Pontisso, Patrizia; Bellati, G.; Brunetto, M.; Chemello, Liliana; Colloredo, G.; DI STEFANO, R.; Nicoletti, M.; Rumi, M. G.; Ruvoletto, M. G.; Soffredini, R.; Valenza, Lm; Colucci, G