Prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibody and chronic liver disease among atomic bomb survivors.
To investigate whether exposure to atomic bomb radiation altered the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or accelerated the progress toward chronic hepatitis after HCV infection, the seropositivity of antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was determined for 6,121 participants in the Adult Health Study of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The seropositivity of anti-HCV antibody was 2.5 times higher among those with a history of blood transfusion and 1.2 times higher among those with a family history of liver disease, whereas acupuncture showed no association with anti-HCV. Although the prevalence of anti-HCV was lower for survivors with positive dose estimates than for those with 0 dose (relative prevalence 0.84, P = 0.022), there was no evidence of a smooth dose-response relationship. However, these data suggested that the radiation dose response for chronic liver disease among HCV antibody-positive survivors may be greater than that among HCV antibody-negative survivors (slope ratio 20). In conclusion, no dose-response relationship was found between anti-HCV positivity and radiation dose; a possible increase in the radiation dose response of chronic liver disease among anti-HCV-positive individuals was found. Thus radiation exposure may accelerate the progress of chronic liver disease associated with hepatitis C virus infection.
Fujiwara
S
S
Department of Clinical Studies, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan.
Kusumi
S
S
Cologne
J
J
Akahoshi
M
M
Kodama
K
K
Yoshizawa
H
H
D000368:Aged; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009689:Nuclear Warfare; D015995:Prevalence; D011827:Radiation; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017741:Survivors
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies