Hepatitis G Virus In Patients Research Articles

Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus Among Hemodialysis and Kidney Transplant Patients in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Background:Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a member of Flaviviridae. Prevalence of HGV in healthy people is very low, but this virus is more prevalent in patients with hepatitis. Besides, relative frequency of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis, and kidney recipients is very high. The role of HGV in pathogenesis is not clear. Since this virus cannot be cultivated, molecular techniques such as Revers Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is applied to detect HGV.Objectives:The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HGV using determination of E2, viral envelope antigen, antibodies and the RNA by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR techniques. The rational of the study was to determine the prevalence of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province, Iran.Patients and Methods:Five hundred and sixteen serum samples of the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation from various cities of Khuzestan province were collected. Anti-hepatitis G E2 antibodies were investigated by ELISA method. RNAs were extracted from serums and Hepatitis G RNA was detected by RT-PCR.Results:Of the 516 samples, 38 (7.36%) specimens were positive for anti-HGV by ELISA. All of these ELISA positive samples were negative for HGV genome by RT-PCR. Of the remaining 478 ELISA negative samples, 16 (3.14%) samples were positive by RT-PCR.Conclusions:Hepatitis G Virus was not prevalent in the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province. Although reports indicated high frequency of co-infection of HGV with hepatitis B and C viruses, in the current research, co-infection of HGV with B and C was not considerable. Since different groups and subtypes of HGV are reported, periodic epidemiologic evaluation of HGV and its co-infection with other hepatitis viruses is suggested in other populations such as the patients with thalassemia; however, periodic epidemiologic monitoring of HGV may be helpful to control future potential variations of the virus.

Hepatitis G virus (HGV), its prevalence and genotypes in patients with hepatitis B & C in Ahvaz, Southwest Iran

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis G virus (HGV, or GB virus C) in patients with hepatitis B and C in Ahvaz, southeastern Iran. Materials and methods: A total of 100 patients were selected; 50 were positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 50 for hepatitis B virus (HBV). HGV status was examined among the HCV- and HBV-positive patients. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used to detect anti-E2 antibody. Nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for RNA detection from serum samples of chronic hepatitis patients. Sequencing was done to determine genotypes Results: Using the ELISA method, co-infection of HGV with HCV and HBV was determined at 6% and 8%, respectively. RT-PCR showed that co-infection of HGV with HCV and HBV was 22% and 10%, respectively. Based on nucleotide sequencing of PCR products, the predominant genotype of HGV among the samples was 2a. Conclusion: Our study showed that the co-infection rate of HGV in patients with hepatitis B and C was somewhat high and was higher in HCV- than in HBV-infected patients. As our findings and other reports from Iran and neighboring countries indicate, genotype 2 of HGV may be the most common genotype of HGV in Middle Eastern countries.

Incidence of hepatitis Gvirus in patients with hematological malignancies withrepeated blood transfusion

Background: Hepatitis G virus and GB virus C (GBV-C) are RNA viruses that were independently identified in 1995, and were subsequently found to be two isolates of the same virus.Blood transfusion is the main risk factor for HGV transmission. Patients with hematological malignancies usually require frequent blood transfusions which make them more vulnerable to HGV infection. The aims of this study was to estimate the transmission rate of HGV in patients with hematological malignancies having multiple blood transfusion Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at the national center of hematology,Almustansiriya University and department of microbiology in Baghdad university college of medicine in Baghdad / Iraq from January till June 2012. The study involved 60 patients (39 males & 21 females) diagnosed with hematological malignancies. Results: Of the sixty patients, seventeen patients (28.3 %) had IgM HGV positive, while 43 (71.7%) of patients had HGV IgM negative which was statistically significant when compared to control group Conclusion: the incidence of HGV increase in patient with hematological malignancies receiving multiple blood transfusions

Etiology of hepatitis G virus (HGV) and hepatitis type C virus (HCV) infections in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients in Southern Iran

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) and hepatitis type C virus (HCV) may implicate malignant lymphoma including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) for inducing the proliferative process of lymphocytes. In this study, the molecular and serologic prevalence of HGV and HCV infections was evaluated in patients with NHL and compared with the controls. In this cross sectional study, ethylene diamine-tetra acetic acid (EDTA)treated blood samples were collected from 140 patients with NHL and 120 healthy controls from 2007 to 2011 years. The serological markers of HCV and HGV viruses were evaluated in both studied groups by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Also, the HGV and HCV viremia was analyzed in patients with NHL and control group by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR protocols. Anti-E2-Ab was detected in 5 of 140 (3.6%) NHL patients. HGV-RNA was diagnosed in 6 of the 140 (4.3%) studied patients. HGV-RNA was diagnosed in 3 of the 120 (2.5%) controls. HCV-RNA was diagnosed in 22 of the 140 (15.7%) patients with NHL. Also, significant difference was detected in the prevalence of HCV genome between NHL and the controls. Significant differences were not found in serologic and molecular prevalence of HGV between NHL and the controls. Determination of the active and persistent infections of HGV in patients with NHL compared with the controls and also identification of higher significant prevalence of HCV infection in patients with NHL proposed strong association between HCV infection and NHL pathogenesis.

Clinicopathological study of chronic hepatitis induced by alcohol with or without hepatitis G virus.

The concept of chronic hepatitis induced by alcohol (AL-CH) has not been widely accepted, because AL-CH may be due to non-A-E hepatitis virus in heavy drinkers. Recently, hepatitis G virus (HGV) was identified as a positive-strand RNA virus related to members of the Flaviviridae family. In this study, we determined serum HGV in patients with AL-CH and analyzed the clinicopathological changes after abstinence to evaluate whether AL-CH is caused by alcohol or not. Serum samples were obtained from 16 patients with AL-CH who had neither hepatitis B nor C virus. The diagnosis was confirmed histologically. In eight patients, liver biopsy was performed twice, within 3 days and 4 to 8 weeks after abstinence. The NS3 region of the HGV genome was detected using an reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction method. Serum levels of AST, ALT and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase were measured once a week sequentially after admission. Serum HGV-RNA was detected in only one patient with AL-CH (6.3%). In all patients, including one patient with HGV, serum levels of AST, ALT and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase clearly decreased to normal levels after abstinence. Inflammatory activity in the periportal area of patients with actively drinking decreased or disappeared after abstinence for 4 to 8 weeks. These results suggest that HGV may not play an important role for development of AL-CH, and that AL-CH may be caused by alcohol itself, although a more larger number of patients with AL-CH are needed to obtain definitive conclusions.