Background: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are significant concerns in patients with inherited disorders of hemoglobin (IDH). Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of HCV and HBV infections in a large cohort of patients with IDH in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran. Methods: In this retrospective study, 2391 patients with IDH in Sistan and Baluchistan were enrolled. The anti-HCV antibody (HCV Ab) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were assessed using ELISA. Results: A total of 2387 patients with a mean age of 12.7 years were included in the final analysis. Most of the patients were residents of Zahedan city (28.1%) and suffered beta-thalassemia major (99.2%). The prevalence of HCV Ab was 5.87% (95% CI = 5.0%-6.89%) and HBsAg was detected in 0.29% (95%CI = 0.14%-0.6%) of the patients. The prevalence of HCV Ab was associated with the age of patients, and there was a great difference in the prevalence of HCV Ab between patients with IDH who born before and after 1996 (17.2% vs. 5.1%; P < 0.05). Among 101 patients with positive results for HCV Ab who were tested for HCV RNA, 53 (52.5%; 95% CI = 42.8%-61.9%) had HCV RNA in their serum samples. Moreover, 40 patients had results for HCV genotyping including 29 (72.5%) HCV genotype 3 and 11 (27.5%) HCV genotype 1. Conclusions: Hepatitis C had a high seroprevalence of 5.87% in patients with IDH in Sistan and Baluchistan while hepatitis B had a low seroprevalence of 0.29% that is unusual in a region with > 3% prevalence of hepatitis B in the general population.
Background: Chronic hepatitis B is a major public health problem, especially, in developing countries. T helper 17 (th17) cells produce cytokines that have been shown to mediate host defensive mechanisms in various infections, but their role in HBV infection has not been well characterized. Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the level of interleukin 17 (IL-17) in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and assess the relationship between different titers of viremia with serum IL-17 and liver enzyme levels. Methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) who were referred to Hepatitis Clinic at Boo-Ali Hospital, Zahedan, Iran, were divided into three major groups according to their viral load and subsequently IL-17 and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were measured. The data analysis was examined by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: In this cross-sectional study, 143 untreated patients with chronic hepatitis B infection were divided into three main groups. Seventy-four patients with HBV DNA less than 2000 IU/mL; 53 patients with HBV DNA between 2000 -10 7 IU/mL and 16 patients with HBV DNA more than 10 7 IU/mL. The mean of serum IL-17 levels in these three groups was 30.66, 26.87 and 24.42 pg/mL, respectively. There was no significant difference between different levels of HBV DNA with the serum level of IL-17 and ALT (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Although IL-17 may contribute to disease progression and liver injury in chronic HBV infected patients, the association between serum levels of IL-17 with viral load was not detected in this study.
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