LOW PREVALENCES OF HBV AND HCV INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY BILIARY-CIRRHOSIS IN TAIWAN - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

To study the role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HC V) infection in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) against the background of HBV and HCV infection in the general population, ser um specimens from a consecutive series of 27 patients with PBC and 108 age/sex matched 'healthy subjects' as control group were submitted to assays for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (a nti-HBs) and antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). None of the p atients with PBC were HBsAg or anti-HCV positive while 17 (15.7%) and 6 (5.6%) of 'healthy' controls were HBsAg positive and anti-HCV positi ve (P = 0.0 1 7 and 0. 26). Patients with PBC also had a significantly lower prevalence of HBV infection than matched controls (70.4% vs 88. 9%, P = 0.022). The results suggest that neither HBV nor HCV plays any significant role in the pathogenesis of PBC, and that PBC would not d evelop or be masked in patients with HBV or HCV infection.