%0 Journal Article
%T Occult HBV infection among Egyptian hepatocellular carcinoma patients
%A Zeinab K Hassan
%A Mohamed M Hafez
%A Tarek M Mansor
%A Abdel Zekri
%J Virology Journal
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1743-422x-8-90
%X To achieve our objective, matched serum and tissue samples were collected from 40 HCC patients. Three sets of primers were used for the HBV-DNA detection by nested-PCR, which cover the HBV-genome; Core, Surface and X genes. Genotyping system based on PCR using type-specific primers was applied on HBV-DNA positive samples.Intrahepatic occult HBV-DNA was detected in 62.5%, whereas; Serum occult HBV-DNA were detected in only 22.5% of HCC patients. In patients' positive for both anti-HBs and anti-HBc, 10% had occult HBV in serum. In serologically negative HCV patients, 63% had intrahepatic HBV-DNA, and 21% had HBV-DNA in serum samples. HBV-genotype D (32%) and B (24%) attributed predominantly to intrahepatic HBV infections in HCC patients, whereas HBV-genotype A (4%) and C (8%) infections were the least observed.This is the first study to show the genotypes of occult HBV infection in HCC Patients. We suggest that B or D may influence the outcome of HBV infection which may lead to the development of HCC.Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide [1] ranging between 3% and 9% annually [2]. In Egypt, HCC reports to account for about 4.7% of chronic liver disease patients [3]. HBV and HCV infections are strongly associated with liver cirrhosis and HCC [4]. Africa is one of the highly endemic regions of HBV, with 5 genotypes A-E are reported as predominant genotypes in different countries [5,6]. HBV is a serious public health problem worldwide and major cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and HCC [7,8]. The diagnosis of HBV infection is usually based on the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Occult hepatitis B is defined by the presence of HBV DNA in serum or liver in the absence of HBsAg [9,10]. HBV DNA can be detected in patients with chronic liver disease who are negative for HBsAg but positive for antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) [11,12]. The diagnosis depends on the sensitivity of HBV DNA assays
%U http://www.virologyj.com/content/8/1/90