Molecular and serological characterization of occult hepatitis B virus infection among patients with hemophilia

Abstract

Background: The occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is a health concern among high-risk groups and immunosuppressed individuals. There is still a paucity of data regarding the occult hepatitis B virus infection among hemophilic patients. With this in mind, we aimed to evaluate the molecular prevalence of OBI among clients with hemophilia.Methods: Totally, 87 hemophilic patients were selected to be studied. To detect OBI, nested polymerase chain reaction test was used to amplify HBV-S, X, and Core regions. Viral load was determined using an in-house real-time PCR assay. Finally, sequence of S gene was used for genotyping and analysis of mutations.Results: The mean age of patients was 28.4 ± 5.3 years old, with 90.7% of whom were men. HBV-DNA was detected in eight subjects (9.3%). The rate of OBI was much higher in anti-HBs seronegative subjects than that in other patients (P = 0.019). All OBI cases had HBV genotype D, subgenotype D1. In addition, five out of eight cases (62.5%) showed detectable viral loads (a mean viral load of 4.5 × 10 2 copies/mL). sR73H, sI110L, sP120A, sP127T, sQ129H, sG130R, and sC137S were shown to be the most determinant escape mutation and OBI-relevant mutants. Conclusion:The rate of OBI among the studied population of hemophilia seems to be remarkable. Therefore, screening for OBI must be a routine practice in patients with hemophilia and also patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatments. Amino acid substitutions were observed in the major hydrophilic region. However further investigations are needed for analysis of exact function. K E Y W O R D S hemophilia, hepatitis B virus, Iran, mutation, occult hepatitis B virus infection, occult

Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection among β-Thalassemia Major Patients in Ahvaz City, Iran

“…[21][22][23] The prevalence of occult HBV infection has been studied in different parts of the world and among various groups; however, there are conflicting with results even in a similar group. As an illustration, OBI prevalence among hemodialysis patients was 1.5% (Turkey), 24 0.5% (Iran), 25 0% (Germany), 26 1.3% (Japan), 27 and 0% (Italy) 28 ; in hemophilia patients was 1.73% in Pakistan, 29 9.3% in Iran, 30 and 0% in Polish 31 ; among thalassemia patients was 31.4% (India), 6 32.5% (Egypt), 5 and 0% (Iran) 13,14 ; in individuals with HCC was 30% (Japan), 32 38.5% (Korea), 33 50% (Egypt), 34 and 70.4% (China) 35 ; among blood donors in different parts of the world was 3.7% (Egypt), 36 4.71% (India), 37 1.98% (Colombia), 38 0.3% (Lebanon), 39 0% (Iran), 8 and 7.4% (Libya). 40 OBI also has been found in patients with leprosy in Brazil (5.3%), 41 individuals suffering from hyperlipidemia in China (9.5%), 42 patients with primary glomerulopathy (3%) and lupus nephritis (13.3%) in Iran, 43 and among ART (antiretroviral therapy) naïve HIV-seropositive individuals in Mozambique (8.3%).…”

A Recent Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes and Subtypes in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The included studies were conducted across the 48 countries representing the Asian continent. Based on the inclusion criteria, our study recovered 207 [ 4 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ...…”

Endemic hepatitis B virus (HBV) among hospital in-patients in Bangladesh, including evidence of occult infection

“…Wt - wild type, aa - amino acid. The ‘a’ determinant (marked with a box at residues 124-147), is a major target of neutralising antibodies and widely-used target for diagnostic assays, and has a strong association with OBI mutations 17,21,53,67 . *The deletion identified at aa30/31 in pre-S2 has not been associated with OBI previously, and it is unclear if this deletion is associated with OBI as the mechanism inducing OBI is unclear.…”