1.The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Hepatitis-delta Infection in Korea.
Sook Hyang JEONG ; 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
The Korean Journal of Hepatology 2005;11(1):43-50
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.
Adult
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Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/virology
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English Abstract
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Female
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Hepatitis Antibodies/analysis
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Hepatitis D/complications/*epidemiology/immunology
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Hepatitis Delta Virus/immunology
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Hepatitis delta Antigens/analysis
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Humans
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Korea/epidemiology
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Liver Neoplasms/virology
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Prevalence