title: Antibody to hepatitis B core antigen as a screening test for occult hepatitis B virus infection in Egyptian chronic hepatitis C patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in liver tissue and/or in serum in the absence of detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is called occult HBV infection. This pattern was identified in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of this study was to determine the role of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) as a screening test for occult HBV infection in Egyptian chronic HCV patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred chronic HCV patients negative for HBsAg were included and subdivided into two groups according to anti-HBc-IgG seroreactivity. Group A included 71 patients positive for anti-HBc (53 men and 18 women, mean age +/- SD 48.8 +/- 9.6 years), and group B included 29 patients negative for anti-HBc (18 men and 11 women, mean age +/- SD 46.6 +/- 11.7 years). All patients were subjected to full clinical assessment, routine laboratory investigations, abdominal ultrasonography and quantification of HBV-DNA by real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chronic HCV patients positive for anti-HBc have more severe liver disease compared with anti-HBc negative patients. Although HBV-DNA in the serum was detected in 22.5% of anti-HBc-positive chronic HCV patients, it was not detected in any of anti-HBc-negative chronic HCV patients. There was no significant difference in any of the clinical and laboratory data tested between anti-HBc-positive patients with and without HBV-DNA in the serum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A significant number of patients with anti-HBc had detectable levels of HBV-DNA in the serum. Egyptian chronic HCV patients have a high prevalence of occult HBV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Assem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Sherif
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abou-Shady
authors.forename: Hany
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abou-Zeid
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elwassief
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elbahrawy
authors.forename: Yoshihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Abdel-Moneim
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hosney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens