title: HBV/HCV co-infection is associated with a high level of HCV spontaneous clearance among drug users and blood donors in China.
abstract: Understanding the biology of spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection could lead to improved strategies to prevent the sequelae associated with chronic HCV infection. Chronic infections with hepatitis virus are very common in China, but the factors associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV have not been adequately studied. We evaluated the spontaneous clearance of HCV among 1918 drug users and 1526 HCV-seropositive blood donors in Guangzhou, China. Among participants who were co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), 41.38% of drug users and 39.47% of blood donors had cleared their HCV infection without antiviral therapy compared to 9.41% of drug users and 16.73% of blood donors who were mono-infected with a single virus (P<.01). The proportion of subjects who had cleared their HCV infection was significantly greater in the co-infected subjects whose serum HBV DNA was greater than 2000IU/mL than those with lower levels. A multiple logistic regression analysis found female gender, IL28B rs8099917 TT genotype, HBV co-infection and blood donors (vs drug users) associated with increased spontaneous clearance of HCV infection. Although acute HCV infections are common in China, the incidence of chronic HCV may be reduced among the high prevalence of chronic HBV and IL28B genotypes associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV in Chinese populations.
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|The Key Medical Disciplines and Specialties Program of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins; C000624353:interferon-lambda, human; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
keywords: HBV/HCV co-infection; HCV spontaneous clearance; IL28B; Keywordsblood donors; drug users