title: The occurrence of hepatitis B and C viruses in Pakistani patients with chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: To study the occurrence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Pakistan, blood samples from 105 sequential patients with biopsy-proven CLD (n = 82) and HCC (n = 23) were tested for HBV and HCV markers. Of the 105, 87 (83%) had evidence of hepatitis B exposure, 58 (55%) were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), 23 (22%) had hepatitis C antibodies and 25 (24%) had detectable HCV RNA. Significantly more patients with HCC had evidence of HBV exposure in the absence of HCV markers (49/82 vs. 20/23, odds ratio 4.49, 95% CI 1.17-25.16). The proportion of patients positive for HBsAg with no HCV markers was also significantly higher in the HCC group (34/82 vs. 18/23, odds ratio 5.08, 95% CI 1.59-18.96). There were more patients with only HCV markers in the CLD group than the HCC group but the difference was not statistically significant (19/82 vs. 1/23, odds ratio 6.63, 95% CI 0.93-288.01). A modified non-isotopic restriction fragment length polymorphism study on PCR products was used to investigate the epidemiology of HCV genotypes in Pakistan. Due to depletion of the initial samples, a second series of specimens collected one year afterwards was used. Fifteen out of 40 samples had amplifiable product and all were identified as type 3. A commercial serological typing method on the same samples also confirmed that type 3 was the predominant HCV genotype in Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Beeching
authors.forename: W U
authors.initials: WU
authors.lastname: Tariq
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Malik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000208:ethnology / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000821:virology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000208:ethnology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology