Ferrari T C A, Xavier M A P, Vidigal P V T, Amaral N S, Diniz P A, Resende A P, Miranda D M, Faria A C, Lima A S, Faria L C
Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Departamento de Anatomia Patológica e Medicina Legal, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Braz J Med Biol Res. 2014 Nov;47(11):990-4. doi: 10.1590/1414-431X20143782. Epub 2014 Aug 29.
Estimates of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection prevalence varies among different studies depending on the prevalence of HBV infection in the study population and on the sensitivity of the assay used to detect HBV DNA. We investigated the prevalence of occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver transplantation in a Brazilian referral center. Frozen liver samples from 68 adults were analyzed using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay for HBV DNA. The specificity of the amplified HBV sequences was confirmed by direct sequencing of the amplicons. The patient population comprised 49 (72.1%) males and 19 (27.9%) females with a median age of 53 years (range=18-67 years). Occult HBV infection was diagnosed in three (4.4%) patients. The etiologies of the underlying chronic liver disease in these cases were alcohol abuse, HBV infection, and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Two of the patients with cryptic HBV infection also presented hepatocellular carcinoma. Markers of previous HBV infection were available in two patients with occult HBV infection and were negative in both. In conclusion, using a sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction assay to detect HBV DNA in frozen liver tissue, we found a low prevalence of occult HBV infection in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver transplant, probably due to the low prevalence of HBV infection in our population.
隐匿性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染的患病率估计在不同研究中有所不同，这取决于研究人群中HBV感染的患病率以及用于检测HBV DNA的检测方法的灵敏度。我们在巴西一家转诊中心调查了接受肝移植的肝硬化患者中隐匿性HBV感染的患病率。使用巢式聚合酶链反应检测法对68名成年人的冷冻肝样本进行HBV DNA分析。通过对扩增子进行直接测序来确认扩增的HBV序列的特异性。患者群体包括49名（72.1%）男性和19名（27.9%）女性，中位年龄为53岁（范围=18 - 67岁）。3名（4.4%）患者被诊断为隐匿性HBV感染。这些病例中潜在慢性肝病的病因是酒精滥用、HBV感染和隐源性肝硬化。两名隐匿性HBV感染患者还患有肝细胞癌。两名隐匿性HBV感染患者有既往HBV感染的标志物，且两者均为阴性。总之，通过使用灵敏的巢式聚合酶链反应检测法检测冷冻肝组织中的HBV DNA，我们发现接受肝移植的肝硬化患者中隐匿性HBV感染的患病率较低，这可能是由于我们研究人群中HBV感染的患病率较低。
