HEV, TTV and GBV-C/HGV markers in patients with acute viral hepatitis

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of HEV, TTV and GBV-C/GBV-C/HGV in patients with acute viral hepatitis A, B and non-A-C. We evaluated sera of 94 patients from a sentinel program who had acute hepatitis A (N = 40), B (N = 42) and non-A-C (N = 12); 71 blood donors served as controls. IgM and anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected by enzyme immunoassay using commercial kits. TTV and GBV-C/HGV were detected by nested PCR; genotyping was done by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Anti-HEV IgG was present in 38, 10 and 17% of patients with hepatitis A, B and non-A-C. Four patients with hepatitis A and 1 with non-A-C hepatitis also had anti-HEV IgM detected in serum. TTV was detected in 21% of patients with acute hepatitis and in 31% of donors. GBV-C/HGV was detected in 9% of patients with hepatitis, and in 10% of donors. We found TTV isolates of genotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 and GBV-C/HGV isolates of genotypes 1 and 2. Mean aminotransferase levels were lower in patients who were TTV or GBV-C/HGV positive. In conclusion, the detection of anti-HEV IgM in some acute hepatitis A cases suggests co-infection with HEV and hepatitis E could be the etiology of a few cases of sporadic non-A-C hepatitis in Salvador, Brazil. TTV genotype 1, 2, 3 and 4 isolates and GBV-C/HGV genotype 1 and 2 strains are frequent in the studied population. TTV and GBV-C/HGV infection does not appear to have a role in the etiology of acute hepatitis. Correspondence

Infección por el virus de la hepatitis E en pacientes con diagnóstico clínico de hepatitis viral en Colombia

“…De otra parte, el grupo 2 presentó una frecuencia de seropositividad para HEV de 15,1 %, similar a la reportada en pacientes con diagnóstico de hepatitis no A, no B, no C, en estudios llevados a cabo en Perú (15,1,% de IgG anti-HEV) (55) y en Brasil (17 % de IgG anti-HEV), siendo este último un estudio centinela de hepatitis (56).…”

Molecular characterization of swine hepatitis E virus from Southeastern Brazil

“…In spite of lack of molecular descriptions, serological evidences of infections have been reported for humans (6,8,12,22,29,42) and other animals (46). Since anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) has been detected in approximately 94% of 20-week old pigs in New Zealand (11) and these animals are thought to be a source for transmission of HEV to humans, in order to detect and characterize an HEV RNA in Brazil, we collected feces of pigs at Figure 1.…”

“…In these countries the prevalence ranged from 3.0% in Southeast Brazil (12) to 10.5% in Mexico (1). Although serological evidences of HEV presence in Brazil have been published (6,8,12,22,29,42), until this report, molecular characterization of HEV isolates circulating in Brazil has not been done.…”

First report of a human autochthonous hepatitis E virus infection in Brazil

“…8,10,11 Specific antibody to HEV (anti-HEV) has been found among different population groups in Brazil, [12][13][14][15][16] but no cases of acute hepatitis E have been yet identified. HEV infection seems common among Brazilian swine livestock, and has been recently shown to respond to viral strains from genotype 3.…”