title: Serological profile and virological evaluation of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection among HIV infected patients in Greece.
abstract: In this study we evaluate the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections and the HBV and/or HCV viral load as well as HCV genotype among 737 HIV-infected patients. 89/737 (12.1%) were HBsAg(+) and the majority of them (60.7%) were HBeAg(+), in contrast to general Greek population; anti-HBc seropositivity was detected in 48.1% of the study population. Serum HBV-DNA levels were 5.75 +/- 1.66 (-log 10 copies/ml) and HBeAg(+) coinfected patients had significantly higher levels than HBeAg(-) ones (7.40 +/- 0.64 vs 4.59 +/- 1.01, respectively, p < 0.001). 8.2% of HIV-infected patients were anti-HCV(+) and the majority of them (85.7%) had HCV-RNA levels more than 700.000 IU/I. The most common HCV-genotype was genotype-1 (12/28, 42.9%), representing a difficult-to-treat special population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hepatology Unit, Hippokration Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece. ielefs@acn.gr
authors.forename: loannis S
authors.initials: lS
authors.lastname: Elefsiniotis
authors.forename: Vassilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Paparizos
authors.forename: Chrysoula
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botsi
authors.forename: Konstantinos D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Pantazis
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsambas
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests; D019562:Viral Load