Epidemiological, immunological and clinical characteristics of acute hepatitis C.
The aim of the study was to make a clinical and epidemiological and immunological characteristic of patients with acute hepatitis C infection (AHC).


METHODS
The study included 178 patients with AHC; they were studied in terms of clinical course, biochemical constellations, T and B lymphocyte subpopulations, level of TNF-alpha in the blood serum, presence of autoantibodies, and the outcome of the disease in a five-year follow-up period.


METHODS
anti-HCV (EIA), HCV-RNA (PCR), HCV genotyping; ALT, AST, AP, gamma-GT; ultrasonography and liver biopsy.


RESULTS
AHC incidence increased six-fold between 2000 and 2006. The prevalence of the disease among intravenous drug-users (IDUs) was 46.07%. Young people (31.71 +/- 1.21) and males (67.98%) were prevalent. The genotype HCV-1 was prevalent. AHC ran with icterus in 70.22% of all cases, while it was anicteric in 29.78%; ALT-activity was high--it was mean 1007.94 +/- 59.87 U/l; intrahepatic cholestasis was found in 38.80%. A light form of the disease was found in 43.26%, mild--in 50.56%, and severe--in 6.18%, without reaching acute liver failure. In the acute stage of the disease, an increase of helper/inducer CD3+CD4+ (p = 0.001), memory T helper CD4+CD29+ (p < 0.0001), activated CD3+HLA-DR+ (p <0.0001), mature CD3+ T cells (p < 0.05), naive CD2+T (p < 0.01), and B-lymphocytes CD19+ (p < 0.001) was found, together with a non-significant increase of the suppressor/cytotoxic CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes in comparison with the controls. The total killer CD56+ were reduced, as well as the MHC restricted killer cells CD8+CD56+. TNF-alpha was elevated in the serum in the light and mild forms (p < 0.0001). The participation of non-organ-specified antibodies (NOSAs) was minimal. Anti-MLA titer was 1/80 in two patients. Five years after the outset of AHC, a spontaneous viral clearance was established in 36.67% and chronic hepatitis in 63.33%.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the initially activated immune cellular response strongly correlating with a well expressed cytolytic syndrome around 2/3 of the AHC patients develop a chronic form of the disease.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Oliana B
OB
Boykinova
Yordanka D
YD
Stoilova
Todorka Z
TZ
Tsvetkova
Ivan G
IG
Baltadjiev
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007565:Jaundice / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis
D012367:RNA, Viral