J. Crespo et al., PREVALENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF HEPATITIS-C VIREMIA IN CHRONIC ACTIVE HEPATITIS-B, The American journal of gastroenterology, 89(8), 1994, pp. 1147-1151
Objectives: To assess the prevalence and significance of HCV infection
in patients with chronic active hepatitis B. Methods: We studied clin
ical and histological activity in 132 patients with chronic active hep
atitis B, 17 of whom were co-infected by HCV. Serum HBV-DNA was determ
ined by dot-blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and
serum HCV-RNA was determined by ELISA-2, RIBA-2, and reverse transcri
ption PCR (RT-PCR). Results: HBV-DNA was detected by dot-blot in five
of 17 (29.4%) patients in the HCV-RNA-positive group and in 64 of 115
(55.6%) in the HCV-RNA-negative group (p < 0.05). The low levels of HB
V replication (assessed by PCR) were similar in both groups. Mean leve
ls of serum AST, ALT, and gamma-globulin, as well as mean scores of li
ver damage, were significantly higher among HCV-RNA-positive patients
than among HCV-RNA-negative patients. Conclusions: 1) Concomitant HCV
infection occurs frequently in patients with chronic active hepatitis
B; 2) co-infection of HBV and HCV is more common in the absence of HBV
-DNA detected by dot-blot hybridization; 3) liver disease seems to be
more severe in patients with concomitant HBV and HCV infection, even t
hough the number of replicative HBV patients was lower in the group of
HCV-infected patients. This suggests that the role of HCV is probably
important as the cause of persistent liver disease. 4) The detection
of HBV-DNA by dot-blot and HCV-RNA by PCR could help to establish whet
her HBV, HCV, or both contribute to liver injury.