Prevalence of Autoantibodies in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Oman

Abstract

Background: HCV genotype patterns and HLA types in the Omani population may be unique. Subjects and Methods: Tests for 12 different autoantibodies were carried out on 50 HCV-infected patients and on 27 HCV-seronegative controls. An immunoassay for the detection of anti-HCV antibodies was performed on patient and control sera. HCV PCR was carried out on those sera which were positive for HCV antibodies. Results: All patients' sera were positive for HCV antibodies and all control sera were negative. Sixty-six percent of patients were positive for at least one autoantibody. In contrast, only 33% of the controls showed positivity for one or more autoantibodies. Conclusion: This study found a significant difference in the prevalence of autoantibodies between patients and controls, and between organ-and non-organ specific autoantibodies among the patients. A comparison with autoantibody patterns reported for HCV-infected patients in other parts of the world suggest that patterns in HCVinfected individuals in the Omani population are unique.

Prevalence and Trends of Common Transfusion Transmitted Infections Using Serological and Nucleic Acid Markers in Saudi Blood Donors

“…Anti-HCV prevalence rate observed in our study is comparable to that observed at 0.5% in Iran [44], 0.46% in Argentine [24], 0.86% in Nigeria [1], and 0.51% in China [24]. In contrast, other surrounding Arab countries in the region showed a significantly higher seroprevalence of HCV than Makkah including Yemen at 2.7 % [45], Oman at 1.2% [46], Iraq at 3.2% [47], Egypt at 5-25% [48], and Pakistan at 5% [42]. Developed countries like the US on the other hand still boast low HCV seroprevalence at 0.02% [21].…”

Hepatitis C Virus in Arab World: A State of Concern

“…Such prevalence reached up to 60% in haemodialysis patients [13]. In the less populated Gulf states, HCV was found to be 0.9 to 1.5% in blood donors of Oman and 26% in haemodialysis patients [14], though it was found to be 40% among haemolytic Bahraini patients with HCV genotypes 4, and 1a and 1b as the commonly prevalent genotypes [15]. In Qatar, the prevalence rate among the general population reached 6.3% and 44.6% in dialysis patients [16–18], though in UAE, the prevalence was found to be 23% among haemodialysis patients, and the predominantly genotypes were 4, 3, and 1 [19].…”

Frequency and Levels of Autoantibodies in Healthy Adult Omanis

“…[4][5][6][7][8][13][14][15] Many factors are known to influence the production of autoantibodies, including genetics, sex, age and viral infections. 16 In this study, healthy Omani individuals, representing most regions of Oman, showed a large number and variety of autoantibodies.…”