Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus Among Hemodialysis and Kidney Transplant Patients in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Abstract

Background:Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a member of Flaviviridae. Prevalence of HGV in healthy people is very low, but this virus is more prevalent in patients with hepatitis. Besides, relative frequency of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis, and kidney recipients is very high. The role of HGV in pathogenesis is not clear. Since this virus cannot be cultivated, molecular techniques such as Revers Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is applied to detect HGV.Objectives:The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HGV using determination of E2, viral envelope antigen, antibodies and the RNA by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR techniques. The rational of the study was to determine the prevalence of HGV in patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province, Iran.Patients and Methods:Five hundred and sixteen serum samples of the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation from various cities of Khuzestan province were collected. Anti-hepatitis G E2 antibodies were investigated by ELISA method. RNAs were extracted from serums and Hepatitis G RNA was detected by RT-PCR.Results:Of the 516 samples, 38 (7.36%) specimens were positive for anti-HGV by ELISA. All of these ELISA positive samples were negative for HGV genome by RT-PCR. Of the remaining 478 ELISA negative samples, 16 (3.14%) samples were positive by RT-PCR.Conclusions:Hepatitis G Virus was not prevalent in the patients undergoing hemodialysis and kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province. Although reports indicated high frequency of co-infection of HGV with hepatitis B and C viruses, in the current research, co-infection of HGV with B and C was not considerable. Since different groups and subtypes of HGV are reported, periodic epidemiologic evaluation of HGV and its co-infection with other hepatitis viruses is suggested in other populations such as the patients with thalassemia; however, periodic epidemiologic monitoring of HGV may be helpful to control future potential variations of the virus.

Prevalence of Hepatitis G Virus and Co-Infection with Hepatitis B Virus and Hepatitis C Virus Among Hemodialysis Patients in Ahvaz, Iran

“…Dadmanesh et al (2015) found that 4.3% of patients on HD were infected with HGV RNA in Tehran, which was lower than that obtained by the current study (30). Samarbaf-zadeh et al (2015) described that 3.14% of HD and kidney transplant patients had positive results for HGV RNA, which was lower than that obtained in the current study (19). Kargar Khaierabad et al…”

“…Generally, the prevalence of HGV varies from 11% to 24%, among HCV-infected individuals (16)(17)(18). The prevalence of HGV infection varies in different regions of Iran and ranges from 3.14% to 10.73% (19,20).…”

Human pegivirus type 1 infection in Asia—A review of the literature

“…Prevalence studies of HPgV-1 have been conducted among haemodialysis/renal disease patients in China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey 18,[93][94][95][96][97][98][99][103][104][105][106][107]114,115,117,152,[161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174] with rates >10% reported in China, 98,107 India, 117,161 Indonesia, 93,114 Iran, 169,172 Nepal, 97 Taiwan, 106,164 Thailand 95 and Turkey. 103,104,115,167,168…”

Common complications of hemodialysis: A clinical review

“…Immune suppression is considered an important risk factor for BKV reactivation in CKD-HD patients. [56] Cardiovascular disease CVD is a common complication associated with both CKD and HD. It was reported that the burden of CVD in patients with long-term HD is increased by 5-10 folds compared with the general population.…”