Detection of occult hepatitis B virus among chronic hepatitis C patients

Peer review under responsibility of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine.

Available online 12 September 2015

Figures & data

Figure 3 Dissociation curve of c gene.

Table

Sequences of primer pairs used for PCR to detect HBV genome^Citation11
Primer name	Nucleotide sequence 5′ to 3′	Seq id no
Outer primers
HBPr 134 sense	GCTGCTATGCCTCATCTTC	134
HBPr 135 antisense	CA(G/A)AGACAAAAGAAAATTGG	135
Inner primers
HBPr 75 sense	CAAGGTATGTTGCCCGTTTGTCC	75
HBPr 94 antisense	GG(T/C)A(A/T)AAAGGGACTCA(A/C)GATG	94

Table

	Nucleotide sequence 5′ to 3′	Nucleotide position
Surface gene
S-sense	AGAACATCGCATCAGGACTC	159–178
S-antisense	CATAGGTATCTTGCGAAAGC	642–623
Core gene
C sense	CTGGGAGGAGTTGGGGGA	1730–1747
C antisense	GTAGAAGAATAAAGCCC	2503–2487
X gene
X sense	CTAGCCGCTTGTTTTGCTCG	1282–1301
X antisense	TTATGCCTACAGCCTCCTAG	1666–1647

Table 1 Correlation between HCV RNA viral load, with abnormal liver functions among the 100 anti-HCV positive cases:

	No (%) N = 100	Abnormal ALT	Abnormal AST
HCV viral load ⩽ 10^4	15 (15%)	1 (6.7%)	4 (26.6%)
10^5 – ⩾10^8	85 (85%)	45 (52.9%)	59 (69.4%)
Pearson Chi square		0.001 ^⁎	0.002 ^⁎

ALT: alanine aminotransferase, AST: aminotransferase.

FEp: Fischer exact test.

X2: Chi square test.

⁎ Results ⩽.05 are significant.

Figure 1 Gel electrophoresis of nested PCR product. Lane (1): DNA ladder – 100 bp. Lane (2): positive control. Lane (3, 4): positive samples. Lane (5, 6, 7): negative samples.

Figure 2 Dissociation curve of s gene.

Figure 4 Dissociation curve of x gene.

Table 2 Distribution of S, X, C and pol genes profile and liver enzymes among the 100 HCV positive patients.

Gene profile	No	%	AST		ALT
			Normal	Abnormal	Normal	Abnormal
S + C + X + pol	1	1	1	0	1	0
C + X + pol	4	4	2	2	2	2
S + pol	2	2	2	0	1	1
C + pol	5	5	0	5	1	4
X + pol		1	1	0	1	1
pol gene alone	5	5	1	4	2	3
No gene detected	82	82	36	46	51	31
Total	100	100.0
			FEp = 0.082		FEp = 0.488

FEp: Fischer exact test.

X2: Chi square test.

^∗Results ⩽.05 are significant.

Table 3 Distribution of liver function tests and anti-HBc among the 18 OBI patients.

	Anti-core +ve						Anti-core −ve						Total	Fischer exact P value
	Normal		Abnormal		Total		Normal		Abnormal		Total
	No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%
Liver function Dist
AST	2	22.2	7	77.8	9	100.0	2	22.2	7	77.8	9	100.0	18	1
ALT	4	44.5	5	55.5	9	100.0	4	44.5	5	55.5	9	100.0	18	1

anti-HBe: antibodies against hepatitis Be antigen, ALT: alanine aminotransferase, AST: aminotransferase.

FEp: Fischer exact test.

X2: Chi square test.

^∗Results ⩽.05 are significant.