title: Prevalence of occult hepatitis C virus infection in Iranian patients with beta thalassemia major.
abstract: Occult hepatitis C virus infection (OCI) is a new pathological form of chronic hepatitis virus (HCV) infection characterized by the presence of HCV RNA in liver biopsy and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) specimens and the absence of HCV RNA and anti-HCV antibodies (Abs) in plasma samples. β-thalassemia major is a hereditary recessive blood disease with deficiency in the hemoglobin beta chain. Thalassemic patients need blood transfusion therapy; repeated blood transfusion increases the risk of viral blood-borne infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of OCI in Iranian patients with β-thalassemia major. From February 2015 to November 2015, a total of 147 Iranian patients with β-thalassemia major were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. After extraction of viral RNA from the plasma and PBMC samples, HCV genomic RNA in the specimens was amplified by RT-nested PCR using primers from the 5'-UTR. The HCV genotypes of the positive specimens were tested using the RFLP assay. To confirm the HCV genotypes, the 5'-UTR fragment was amplified and cloned into the pJET1.2/blunt cloning vector and then sequenced. Out of 147 patients, 106 (72.1 %) were negative for anti-HCV Abs and HCV RNA. HCV RNA was found in PBMC specimens of six (5.7 %) patients, from a total of 106 patients with undetectable plasma HCV RNA and anti-HCV Abs. Therefore, six out of 106 patients had OCI. HCV genotyping revealed that three patients were infected with HCV subtype 1b, two patients were infected with HCV subtype 3a, and one patient was infected with HCV subtype 1a. These results revealed that Iranian patients with beta-thalassemia major might have OCI. Therefore, it seems that the design of a study to identify this infection in patients with β-thalassemia major would provide valuable information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad-Navid
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Bastani
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Bokharaeifarah@gmail.com.|HIV Laboratory of National Center, Deputy of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Bokharaeifarah@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bokharaei-Salim
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keyvani
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esghaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hamidreza
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Monavari
authors.affiliation: Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO), Thalassemia Center, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: HIV Laboratory of National Center, Deputy of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Saba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garshasebi
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Payame Noor University, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fakhim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral