Author/Authors :
Tajik، Zahra نويسنده Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, IR Iran , , Keyvani، Hossein نويسنده , , Bokharaei-Salim، Farah نويسنده Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran , , Zolfaghari، Mohammad Reza نويسنده , , Fakhim، Shahin نويسنده Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Payame Noor University, Karaj, IR Iran , , Keshvari، Maryam نويسنده Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization research Center, Tehran, IR Iran , , Alavian، Seyed-Moayed نويسنده ,
Abstract :
Covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a marker of HBV replication in the liver of patients infected with HBV. This study aimed to investigate the association between the presence of cccDNA in the plasma samples of Iranian treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and HBV viral load and HBsAg levels. From April 2012 to May 2015, 106 treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The HBsAg titer was measured by the Roche HBsAg II assay on the Cobas e411 system, and HBV DNA quantitation was performed using the COBAS TaqMan 48 kit. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for the detection of HBV cccDNA. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 41.1 ± 12.4 years (range, 20 - 62 years). From a total of 106 study participants, 67 (63.2%) were males. The HBV cccDNA was detected in plasma specimens in 19 (17.9%) out of the total 106 patients, and a significant relationship was found between the presence of cccDNA in plasma sample of males (23.9%) and females (7.7%) (P = 0.039). Also, a significant correlation was found between the presence of cccDNA in plasma sample of the patients and HBV viral load level (P < 0.0001) and HBsAg titer (P = 0.0043). This study showed that cccDNA can be detected in the plasma specimen of 17.9% of Iranian treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Therefore, designing prospective studies focusing on the detection of cccDNA in these patients would provide more information.
