Occult hepatitis B virus in liver tissue of individuals without hepatic disease.
OBJECTIVE
While many data are available concerning occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with hepatic disorders, there is little information about this cryptic infection in individuals without liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV in the general population by examining liver specimens from a large series of HBV-surface-antigen negative individuals with no clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease.


METHODS
The presence of HBV DNA was evaluated by testing, through polymerase chain reaction techniques, DNA extracts from 98 liver-disease-free individuals who underwent liver resection or needle biopsy during abdominal surgery. Sixteen of them were anti-HBV-core antigen (anti-HBc) positive and 82 were HBV serum-marker negative. All patients were negative for antibody to hepatitis C virus.


RESULTS
Occult HBV infection was revealed in 16 of the 98 cases (16.3%). In particular, 10/16 anti-HBc positive (62.5%) versus 6/82 (7.3%) HBV-seronegative individuals were occult carriers (p<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that about 1/6 of the Italian general population might be carriers of occult HBV infection, and this condition is significantly associated with the anti-HBc positive status.
Raimondo
Giovanni
G
Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, Messina, Italy. raimondo@unime.it
Navarra
Giuseppe
G
Mondello
Stefania
S
Costantino
Lucy
L
Colloredo
Guido
G
Cucinotta
Eugenio
E
Di Vita
Gaetano
G
Scisca
Claudio
C
Squadrito
Giovanni
G
Pollicino
Teresa
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002353:Carrier State / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000821:virology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens