Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C in Coronary Artery Disease Patients in Urmia, Northwest of Iran

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the main causes of death all over the world. Predisposing factors comprise some infectious etiologies with systemic effects such as the hepatitis C virus and HBV-infection might be related to CAD from chronic inflammation process. The relationships between hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) infections and CAD considered a noticeable health problem. In the present study, we evaluated the seropositivity of HCV and HBV in CAD patients from the Iranian population. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cohort study including 192 CAD subjects. To identify HCV and HBV -infected subjects, a serologic examination comprising Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies (HCV-Ab) tests performed by ELISA method. Also, we examined the biochemical blood parameters such as lipid profile, glycemic parameters, and blood inflammatory factor (C-reactive protein). Results: We identified a very low percent of HBV-infected cases (1.04%). All examined CAD patients indicate the HCV Ab-negative results. The HBV-infected subject had not, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. HBV infection was not related to the increased risk of CAD. Also, CAD risk factors were not associated with the prevalence of HBV and HCV. Conclusion: According to the results, HCV and HBV infections had very low prevalence in examined subjects and there was not any association between CAD and prevalence of HCV and HBV infections

The seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 among kidney transplant recipients: A single-center study

Parvovirus B19 is a DNA virus that is responsible for causing several diseases in humans. Parvovirus B19-induced persistent anemia is one of its manifestations that is relatively common in transplant recipients. This study was aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 among kidney transplant recipients. Ninety-one transplant recipients were selected randomly and were investigated for several variables including age, gender, educational status, history of hemodialysis (HD), history of blood transfusion and immunosuppressive therapy. Two milliliters of blood samples were collected via venipuncture and evaluated for anti-Parvovirus B19 IgG antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All recipients were anemic, with 72.5% of them suffering from severe anemia (Hb ≤ 11 in men and ≤ 10 in women). Sixty-three patients (69.2%) were seropositive for Parvovirus B19. There was no significant difference in age, sex, educational status, history of blood transfusion, history of HD and immunosuppressive therapy between seropositive and seronegative groups. The seroprevalence of Parvovirus B19 was relatively high in kidney transplant recipients in Urmia, Iran. Our study failed to find a correlation between the severity of anemia and the seropositivity of Parvovirus B19

Human parvovirus B19 in Iranian pregnant women: A serologic survey

Background: Parvovirus B19 infection is associated with clinical symptoms that vary in the spectrum from trivial to severe. The important clinical manifestations are erythema infectiosum or the fifth disease, transient aplastic anemia in patients with hemoglobinopathies, acute polyarthralgia syndrome in adults, hydrops fetalis, spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. Acute infection in nonimmune pregnant women can lead to fetal hydrops. In view of the many complications that can result from acute parvovirus B19 infections during pregnancy, documenting the seroprevalence of anti-parvovirus B19 IgG and its association with the history of abortion in an Iranian population of pregnant women would be of value. Materials and Methods: Serum samples from 86 pregnant women were collected between May and September 2011 in West Azerbaijan province of Iran. Every pregnant woman completed a questionnaire which included age, history of tattooing, blood transfusion, and abortion. Anti-B19 specific IgG was detected by using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results: Anti-B19-specific IgG antibody was detected in (65/86, 75.6%) of pregnant women. The mean age was 25.56 ± 5.30 years and three women had a documented history of blood transfusion (2 of them tested seropositive for B19). 16/18 (88.8%) of women with a history of abortion were IgG positive. The frequency of abortion sessions in the seropositive group (25 sessions of abortion: 11 women experienced once, 2 twice, 2 thrice and one 4 times) was 4.03 times greater than abortion in seronegative group (2 abortions/21 seronegative women). Conclusion: Our study reaffirms previous reports regarding the higher frequency of abortion among anti-B19 IgG seropositive pregnant women and a possible role of this viral infection in the pathogenesis of abortion