title: Geographic differences in HBV related, autoimmune, and cryptogenic chronic active hepatitis.
abstract: To clarify the importance of ethnic and geographic factors in chronic active hepatitis (CAH), HBV markers and autoantibodies (AMA, ANA, SMA), have been compared in 158 patients with biopsy-proven CAH from New York City and in 92 patients with CAH from Milan. HBsAg-positive CAH was more frequently observed in Milan (49%) than in New York City (27%). However, among HBsAg-positive patients, HBcAg, HBeAg, and epidemiologic risk factors for acquisition of HBV infection were more frequently found in New York than in Italy. The prevalence of HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc-positive CAH and cryptogenic CAH was similar in the two cities, while autoimmune CAH was more frequently observed in New York (20%) than in Milan (2%). In particular, the prevalence of autoimmune hepatitis was higher among Jewish patients than among patients of Anglo-Saxon or Latin ethnic background in New York. Thus, environmental and/or ethnic factors may influence the prevalence of the four major types of CAH.
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000209:etiology; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013020:South America / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens