title: Recent Trend of Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Chiba Area, Japan: 3 of 5 Cases with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
abstract: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an emerging health concern in developing and developed countries, such as Japan. Five cases have recently been diagnosed as hepatitis E. Of interest, 3 of them had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although a previous study demonstrated a lack of association between HEV and RA. One of the other patients developed autoimmune hepatitis and was successfully treated with corticosteroids approximately 150 days after the diagnosis of hepatitis E. In RA patients with liver dysfunction, the presence of HEV infection should be evaluated immediately because these patients are often relatively old. Further investigation of the association between HEV and autoimmune hepatitis is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Reina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Division of Virology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
keywords: Autoimmune hepatitis; Hepatitis E virus; IgA anti-hepatitis E virus antibody; Rheumatoid arthritis