Hepatitis C Virus Serological Status Among Cases Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

of HCC with HCV was assesssed in these 25 HCC cases through screening of their sera for anti-HCV IgG using 3" generation ELISA kit, and HCV RNA by RT-PCR technique. Our results revealed that serum samples from 22 patients (88%) were anti-HCV positive,18 (72%) were HCV-RNA positive (Group I), and 4(16%) were HCV-RNA negative, (Group II). The remaing 3(12%) cases were anti-HCV negative (Group III).

The recognition of specific genotypes is useful in studying the epidemiology, transmission, clinical manifestations and pathogenesis of the disease. Data regarding the role of viral genotype in predicting long-term sequelae are contradictory and incomplete. In the present study we used INNO-LiPA HCV II for HCV genotyping which allows the determination of six HCV genotypes and 16 subtypes. Our results revealed that all the 18 HCV-RNA positive samples (100%) were genotype 4, one of them showed coinfection with genotype 1, and seven samples (3 8. 9%) belonged to subtype 4c-4d. The remaining 11 (61.1 %) did not fit any of genotype 4 subtypes recognized by the utilized assay. These results imply that the genotypic distribution of HCV in HCC patients is similar to that in the general population (genotype 4), and that new subtypes are emerging.

The association of HCC with HCV in relation to confounding factors such as age, sex, and geography was analyzed in the 25 patients with histologically proven HCC included in the present study. Our results revealed that their mean age was 56.95 + 11.57 years, most of them were males (80 %), of rural residence (60%). Medical risk factors associated with HCC and anti-HCV was studied in the present study. No history of blood transfusion or jaundice was observed among