Institute of Tropical Pathology and Public Health, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
Faculty of Nursing, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
Int J Infect Dis. 2018 Apr;69:41-43. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.01.032. Epub 2018 Feb 10.
To assess the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA and antibodies among kidney transplant recipients (KTR) in Central Brazil. The presence of chronic HEV infection was also investigated.
A cohort study was conducted among 316 KTR treated at a referral center for kidney transplantation in Goiânia, Brazil. All serum samples were tested for the presence of HEV RNA (real-time PCR) and anti-HEV IgG/IgM (ELISA). Anti-HEV-positive samples were confirmed using an immunoblot test. HEV chronicity was investigated in a subgroup of patients with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT >40IU/l) through HEV RNA detection in additional serum samples collected 3 and 6 months apart.
A seroprevalence of 2.5% (95% confidence interval 1.2-5.1%) was found for anti-HEV IgG. There was no difference in characteristics between the anti-HEV IgG seropositive and seronegative KTR groups. Anti-HEV IgM was detected in only one patient (0.3%). All KTR were negative for HEV RNA.
These results show that HEV infection is infrequent in KTR in Central Brazil, with low seroprevalence rates of past and recent infection, and also an absence of active and chronic HEV infections.
评估巴西中部地区肾移植受者（KTR）中戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）RNA 和抗体的流行情况。还调查了慢性 HEV 感染的存在情况。
对巴西戈亚尼亚一家肾脏移植转诊中心治疗的 316 名 KTR 进行了队列研究。所有血清样本均进行了 HEV RNA（实时 PCR）和抗-HEV IgG/IgM（ELISA）检测。使用免疫印迹试验对抗-HEV 阳性样本进行了确认。通过在相隔 3 个月和 6 个月收集的额外血清样本中检测 HEV RNA，对丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT >40IU/l）升高的患者亚组进行了慢性 HEV 感染调查。
抗-HEV IgG 的血清阳性率为 2.5%（95%置信区间 1.2-5.1%）。抗-HEV IgG 血清阳性和阴性 KTR 组的特征无差异。仅在一名患者（0.3%）中检测到抗-HEV IgM。所有 KTR 均未检测到 HEV RNA。
这些结果表明，巴西中部地区的 KTR 中 HEV 感染并不常见，既往和近期感染的血清阳性率较低，且不存在活跃和慢性 HEV 感染。
