Abstract

Objective To investigate the prevalence of occult HBV infection among cryptogenic chronic liver disease patients and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in north of China.Methods The HBV DNA in 393 sera samples collected from cryptogenic chronic liver disease patients (215),HBsAg negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients (178) were tested by nested PCR.We performed real-time PCR to determine the levels of serum HBV-DNA.Results Prevalence of occult HBV infection was 23.7％ (51/215) and 68.5％ (122/178) in cryptogenic chronic liver disease patients,HBsAg-negative HCC patients,respectivly.The prevalence of occult HBV infection in IgG anti-HBc-positive subjects was significantly high.In all cases,viral loads were low (＜ 105 viral copies/ml).Conclusion The prevalence of occult HBV infection was significantly high among cryptogenic chronic liver disease patients and HBsAg-negative HCC patients in north of China.Thus,more meticulous attention should be given to prevent HBV transmission by blood transfusion or organ transplantation in endemic areas,and further studies on clinical implication and mechanism of occult HBV infection are required. Key words: Hepatitis B virus; Occult infection; Prevalence

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