[Viral replication, histologic damage and enzymatic activity in chronic hepatopathies caused by B virus. Analysis of 21 patients].
In 21 patients from the out-patient clinic of the Internal Medicine Department of our hospital with chronic hepatitis (HC) due to B virus (HBV) and anti-HBC (IgG) serology but not HBsAg, a study was made of the possible correlation between viral replication levels (RV) --as expressed by DNA polymerase values (DNAp)-- and, respectively, histologic changes and serum enzyme movements (GPT, GOT). Our study parted from the diverse criteria cited in the literature concerning the role assigned to viral replication per se and/or immune response per se in the genesis of histologic damage (DH). All patients exhibited signs of moderate clinical and enzymatic activity. The levels of viral replication in the group studies were significant (compared to a control group), which supports the thesis that a certain degree of viral replication, although very attenuated, persists in these patients and is the basis of the continued histological damage that eventually leads to liver cirrhosis (CH) and its derivatives, often with little clinical translation. As regards histologic damage, the correlation with DNAp is reciprocal and of moderate significance, supporting the criterion that the multiform expression of histologic damage in liver cirrhosis due to HBV (HCB) (cellular necrosis, intracellular degenerative phenomena, inflammatory cellular infiltrate, fibrosis) is, at the very least, unproportional to the degree of viral replication and can even be reciprocal. Only the severity of the overall hepatic process remains a function of immune response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bataller Sifre
R
R
Gómez García
M A
MA
Ferrandis Borrás
S
S
Bataller Alberola
R B
RB
Bataller Alberola
R M
RM
Alberola García
M D
MD
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000032:analysis; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000637:Transaminases / Q000097:blood; D014779:Virus Replication
D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D000637:Transaminases; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
Replicación viral, daño histológico y movimiento enzimático en hepatopatías crónicas por virus B. Análisis de 21 pacientes.