title: High prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis E virus in HIV-infected patients with unexplained liver disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To look for evidence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) exposure in HIV-infected patients with unexplained elevations of liver stiffness (LS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study conducted in 31 HIV-infected patients with unexplained elevations of LS and in 31 HIV-controls with normal LS, matched by age, sex and CD4 cell-counts. Serum HEV antibodies were tested by two ELISA procedures and by Immunoblot. We defined exposure to HEV as the detection of serum HEV antibodies by at least one of the two ELISA assays, provided that it was confirmed by Immunoblot. A real-time PCR RNA assay was conducted in all plasma samples to identify subjects with active HEV infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exposure to HEV was demonstrated, according to the criteria used in this study, in 9 (29%) of the cases, whereas it was shown in 5 (16%) of the controls (p=.3). Serum HEV RNA was detected in none of the controls and in only in one case. This patient had a documented chronic hepatitis E with progression to cirrhosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HEV antibodies are frequently found in HIV-infected patients with unexplained liver disease.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Merchante
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parra-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rivero-Juárez
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cifuentes
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Camacho
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Macías
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Loreto
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martínez-Dueñas
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pérez-Navarro
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rivero
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: japineda@telefonica.net.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pineda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004548:Elasticity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Cirrhosis; Cirrosis; Fibrosis hepática; HIV; Hepatitis E virus; Liver fibrosis; Liver stiffness; Rigidez hepática; VIH; Virus de la hepatitis E