The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Hepatitis-delta Infection in Korea.
- Author:
Sook Hyang JEONG
1
;
Jung Min KIM
;
Heui June AHN
;
Myung Joon PARK
;
Kwang Hyun PAIK
;
Won CHOI
;
Jin KIM
;
Chul Joo HAN
;
Yoo Cheoul KIM
;
Jhin Oh LEE
;
Young Joon HONG
;
Hyo Young PARK
;
Ha Hyun JEONG
;
Mi Yong YOON
;
Myungjin LEE
;
Kee Ho LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea. jsh@kcch.re.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article ; English Abstract
- Keywords:
Hepatitis delta virus;
Anti-delta antibody;
Prevalence
- MeSH:
Adult;
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/virology;
English Abstract;
Female;
Hepatitis Antibodies/analysis;
Hepatitis D/complications/*epidemiology/immunology;
Hepatitis Delta Virus/immunology;
Hepatitis delta Antigens/analysis;
Humans;
Korea/epidemiology;
Liver Neoplasms/virology;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Prevalence
- From:The Korean Journal of Hepatology
2005;11(1):43-50
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection has been estimated as being approximately 5% among global HBsAg carriers. The anti-delta positive rate in Koreans had been reported as being 0.85% in 1985. While the prevalence of HBV has been decreased from nearly 10% to 5% during the past twenty years, there have been no more studies on the anti-delta prevalence in Koreans. The aim of this study was to estimate the anti-delta prevalence in Koreans and to study the clinical characteristics of anti-delta positive patients in a single center. METHODS: Serum anti-delta was measured in one hundred ninety four HBsAg-positive patients who were admitted to our hospital from February 2003 to August 2003. We checked the genotypes of the HBV in the anti-delta positive patients. The clinical features of the anti-delta positive patients were compared to those clinical features of the anti-delta negative patients from the aspect of age, gender, mode of transmission, the positivity of HBeAg and serum HBV DNA. RESULTS: Serum anti-delta was positive in seven patients among the 194 subjects, giving a 3.6% positive rate. Among these seven patients, six had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the other one had cholangiocarcinoma. All of the anti-delta positive patients had the C genotype of HBV. The anti-delta positive patients showed significantly suppressed HBV DNA replication compared to the anti-delta negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: In Koreans, anti-delta was positive mainly in HCC patients with an approximate prevalence of 4%, and this rate has not changed much for the past twenty years. HBV DNA replication was suppressed by HDV infection.
