Journal of Hepatology
Volume 48, Issue 5 , Pages 743-746, May 2008

Occult hepatitis B virus in liver tissue of individuals without hepatic disease☆

  • Giovanni Raimondo

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, 98124 Messina, Italy
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +39 90 2212392; fax: +39 90 2935162.
    • ,
  • Giuseppe Navarra

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgical Sciences, Messina University Hospital, Italy
    • ,
  • Stefania Mondello

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, 98124 Messina, Italy
    • ,
  • Lucy Costantino

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, 98124 Messina, Italy
    • ,
  • Guido Colloredo

      Affiliations

    • Liver Unit, Seriate Hospital, Bergamo, Italy
    • Present address: Internal Medicine Department, Policlinico San Pietro, Bergamo, Italy.
    • ,
  • Eugenio Cucinotta

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Pathology, Messina University Hospital, Messina, Italy
    • ,
  • Gaetano Di Vita

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgical and Oncological Sciences, Palermo University Hospital, Palermo, Italy
    • ,
  • Claudio Scisca

      Affiliations

    • Department of Human Pathology, Messina University Hospital, Messina, Italy
    • ,
  • Giovanni Squadrito

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, 98124 Messina, Italy
    • ,
  • Teresa Pollicino

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Messina University Hospital, Via Consolare Valeria, 98124 Messina, Italy

Received 19 October 2007; received in revised form 4 January 2008; accepted 7 January 2008. published online 13 February 2008.

Associate Editor: F. Zoulim

Background/Aims

While many data are available concerning occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with hepatic disorders, there is little information about this cryptic infection in individuals without liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occult HBV in the general population by examining liver specimens from a large series of HBV-surface-antigen negative individuals with no clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease.

Methods

The presence of HBV DNA was evaluated by testing, through polymerase chain reaction techniques, DNA extracts from 98 liver-disease-free individuals who underwent liver resection or needle biopsy during abdominal surgery. Sixteen of them were anti-HBV-core antigen (anti-HBc) positive and 82 were HBV serum-marker negative. All patients were negative for antibody to hepatitis C virus.

Results

Occult HBV infection was revealed in 16 of the 98 cases (16.3%). In particular, 10/16 anti-HBc positive (62.5%) versus 6/82 (7.3%) HBV-seronegative individuals were occult carriers (p<0.0001).

Conclusions

This study revealed that about 1/6 of the Italian general population might be carriers of occult HBV infection, and this condition is significantly associated with the anti-HBc positive status.

Abbreviations: HBV, hepatitis B virus, HBsAg, HBV-surface-antigen, anti-HBc, antibody to the HBV-core-antigen, anti-HBs, anti HBsAg antibody, HBVcccDNA, viral covalently-closed-circular DNA, OLT, orthotopic liver transplantation, PCR, polymerase chain reaction, SD, standard deviation

Keywords: Occult HBV, HBV DNA, Normal liver, Anti-HBc, HBV-seronegative

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☆ The authors declare that they do not have anything to disclose regarding funding from industries or conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript.

PII: S0168-8278(08)00081-0

doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2008.01.023

Journal of Hepatology
Volume 48, Issue 5 , Pages 743-746, May 2008

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