title: Can brucellosis influence the course of chronic hepatitis C in dual infection?
abstract: Hepatitis C and brucellosis are infectious diseases that occur worldwide, and both are endemic in Egypt. Co-infection with both agents is possible, and this can involve the liver in various ways. In this study, we investigated serum tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), viral load, and liver functions in patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) before and after brucellosis treatment. Over 3 years, 241 consecutive HCV patients (before interferon therapy was received) with recurrent fever who had occupational contact with animals were tested for brucellosis co-infection by a standard tube agglutination test. In patients with dual infection, viraemia (RT-PCR), TIMP-1 measured by ELISA, and liver functions were assessed and re-evaluated 2 months after brucellosis treatment. The number of patients with HCV/brucellosis co-infection was 32 out of 241 (13.3%). TIMP-1, viraemia, AST, ALT and bilirubin showed significant decrease (improvement) after brucellosis treatment (p < 0.001) but an insignificant difference (p > 0.05) with regard to serum albumin and prothrombin concentration. The study revealed that brucellosis is an important infection in HCV-infected patients and can aggravate the course of disease, suggesting that early treatment and prevention are important.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt. aaboalazm@gmail.com
authors.forename: Abdel Raouf
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abou El Azm
authors.forename: Lobna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abou-Ali
authors.forename: Abdel Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kobtan
authors.forename: Nagwa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mansour
authors.forename: Salwa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tawfik
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D060085:Coinfection; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / Q000097:blood*; D019562:Viral Load; D014766:Viremia
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; C560822:TIMP1 protein, human; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1