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Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibody and the possible association with chronic liver disease: a case-control study in Albania

2005; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 134; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s095026880500470x

1469-4409

Loreta A. Kondili, Paola Chionne, Antonio Benito Porcaro, Elisabetta Madonna, Stefania Taffon, Bashkim Resuli, Gloria Taliani, M. Rapicetta,

Liver Diseases and Immunity

A case-control study involving 109 in-patients with chronic liver disease and 190 in-patients with no apparent liver disease was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-HEV antibodies and the possible association with chronic liver disease. Among cases, the anti-HEV prevalence was 36.6% which increased significantly by age; among controls, the prevalence was 12.1% (P<0.05) and was similar among age groups 50 years (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.4-11) and the presence of end stage liver disease (ESLD) (OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.4-12.8) were associated independently with anti-HEV positivity. The mean optical density, determined by anti-HEV immunoenzymatic test, was significantly higher among patients with ESLD, compared to the other patients. These results indicate that there is a high seroprevalence of anti-HEV in patients with chronic liver disease and a possible association between HEV infection and/or anti-HEV production and advanced stage chronic liver disease.