Abstract
BackgroundHepatitis D virus (HDV) is highly pathogenic, and clinical studies revealed that HDV infection aggravates the natural history of the underlying hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by progression to cirrhosis that leads to early decompensation of liver function compared with HBV mono-infection. To determine the seroprevalence of HDV among HBsAg-seropositive patients and associated biochemical profiles at Maiduguri, Nigeria, a hospital-based cross-sectional study on 180 sera of patients positive for HBsAg by ELISA were evaluated for anti-HDV, hepatitis B envelop antigen, anti-HBs antibodies and liver enzyme profiles.ResultsHDV seroprevalence of 3.3% among 180 HBsAg-positive patients. Relatively higher seroprevalence of HDV was observed in males (4.3%) than in females (2.3%). The highest infection rate (20%) was obtained in patients ≥ 56 years. However, no significant association between positive anti-HDV seroprevalence and gender (p > 0.05). Of the 6 (3.3%) anti-HDV-positive patients, only 1 (16.7%) was positive for HBeAg while all were negative for anti-HBs antibodies. The mean level of liver enzyme level of AST and ALT of the anti-HDV-positive patients significantly differ from that of HBsAg mono-infected patients (p ˂ 0.05). However, no significant difference (p < 0.05) between the mean levels of liver enzymes of ALP in anti-HDV-positive and HBsAg mono-infected patients (p ˃ 0.05) was found.ConclusionThis study revealed a relatively low presence of HDV in HBsAg-positive patients. Furthermore, HDV-HBV co-infected patients had somewhat worse liver enzyme upregulation. This underscores the need for rapid HDV testing and treatment in HBV-infected patients.
Highlights
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is highly pathogenic, and clinical studies revealed that HDV infection aggravates the natural history of the underlying hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by progression to cirrhosis that leads to early decompensation of liver function compared with HBV mono-infection
Because HDV infection aggravates the natural history of the underlying HBV infection by progression to cirrhosis that leads to early decompensation of liver function compared with HBV mono-infection, this study aims to determine the seroprevalence of HDV in Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients and associated liver biochemical profiles among the subjects
Study population A total of 180 HBsAg-positive samples by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) collected from patients sent for HBsAg investigation were evaluated for the presence of HDV, hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) and hepatitis B surface antibodies (HBsAb), and their liver enzyme profiles were determined in the Immunology Department of the hospital (Table 1)
Summary
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is highly pathogenic, and clinical studies revealed that HDV infection aggravates the natural history of the underlying hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by progression to cirrhosis that leads to early decompensation of liver function compared with HBV mono-infection. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a public health problem, and it is estimated globally that 248 to 292 million people are HBV chronically infected [1, 2] Based on this estimation, about 5% of these patients were initially assumed to be HDV co-infected [3]. About 5% of these patients were initially assumed to be HDV co-infected [3] These figures are contrary to the findings of a recent meta-analysis that revealed an overwhelming 13 to 14%, which corresponds to about 62 to 72 million people living with HDV worldwide [4, 5]. For decades, the exact global prevalence of HDV infection remains indefinite because of the varied and absence of standardised screening practices of HBV-positive patients for HDV and the inaccessibility to testing in many endemic and resource-constrained countries
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