Chandra Madhavi, Khaja M N, Farees Nafeesa, Poduri C D, Hussain M M, Aejaz Habeeb M, Habibullah C M
Center for Liver Research and Diagnostics, Deccan College of Medical Sciences and Allied Hospitals, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Trop Gastroenterol. 2003 Oct-Dec;24(4):193-5.
Viral hepatitis caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) represents a major public health problem in India. These viruses share common modes of transmission, such as parenteral routes. We aimed to assess the exposure of a tribal population to these viruses in south India. The present study was carried out on serum samples from 890 individuals (526 males and 324 females) belonging to the Lambada tribe residing in the state of Andhra Pradesh, south India. Anti-HCV antibody and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) status in the sera were analyzed using commercially available enzyme immunoassays (Abbott Labs, Chicago, IL). HCV-RNA and HBV-DNA in the sera was tested by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and PCR, respectively. The infecting genotype of HCV was determined using type-specific primers corresponding to the NS5 region of the virus. Out of the 890 samples, 18 (2.02%; male 11/526; female 7/364) were positive for HCV-RNA by RT-PCR and, 17 of them were positive for anti-HCV antibody. Genotyping of HCV isolates from the 18 individuals positive for HCV-RNA revealed that 66.67% (12/18) were infected with type 1 of HCV and its variants; while in the remaining (6/18), the infecting genotype was found to be type 3 and its variants. A total of 46 samples (5.16%; males 28/526; female 18/364) were positive for HBsAg; while 11 were positive only for HBV-DNA, 9 were positive for both hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and HBV-DNA. Cultural practices such as tattooing, traditional medicine (e.g. blood-letting), rituals (e.g. scarification), body-piercing etc are the potential sources of spread of infection in this tribe. None of the samples analyzed revealed co-infection with the 2 viruses.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）和乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）引起的病毒性肝炎是印度的一个主要公共卫生问题。这些病毒具有共同的传播途径，如肠道外途径。我们旨在评估印度南部一个部落人群对这些病毒的暴露情况。本研究对来自印度南部安得拉邦的890名（526名男性和324名女性）兰巴达部落个体的血清样本进行了检测。使用市售酶免疫分析法（雅培实验室，伊利诺伊州芝加哥）分析血清中的抗HCV抗体和乙型肝炎表面抗原（HBsAg）状态。血清中的HCV-RNA和HBV-DNA分别通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和PCR进行检测。使用对应于病毒NS5区域的型特异性引物确定HCV的感染基因型。在890份样本中，18份（2.02%；男性11/526；女性7/364）通过RT-PCR检测HCV-RNA呈阳性，其中17份抗HCV抗体呈阳性。对18例HCV-RNA阳性个体的HCV分离株进行基因分型，结果显示66.67%（12/18）感染了HCV 1型及其变体；而其余（6/18）个体的感染基因型为3型及其变体。共有46份样本（5.16%；男性28/526；女性18/364）HBsAg呈阳性；11份仅HBV-DNA呈阳性，9份乙型肝炎e抗原（HBeAg）和HBV-DNA均呈阳性。纹身、传统医学（如放血）、仪式（如划痕）、穿孔等文化习俗是该部落感染传播的潜在来源。分析的样本均未显示两种病毒合并感染。
