High Prevalence of Transfusion-Transmitted Virus Infection in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases in an Endemic Area of Hepatitis B and C Virus

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Abstract
To determine the prevalence and clinical impact of transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) DNA in patients with chronic liver diseases in the Southeast Anatolia region of Turkey where hepatitis B and C viral infections are endemic. Patients diagnosed with chronic liver disease by clinical, biochemical and histologic means were enrolled in the study. Serum samples of 60 patients (19 males, 41 females) with chronic liver diseases, and of 45 healthy volunteer blood donors as a control group were collected. The chronic liver disease group consisted of 11 patients with hepatitis B, 44 with hepatitis C and 5 with chronic liver disease of unknown etiology. Presence of TTV DNA was investigated by the polymerase chain reaction. Using a scoring system histological grading of inflammation and staging of fibrosis were performed only in the chronic hepatitis C group. TTV DNA was detected in 47 (78%) patients with chronic liver disease and 5 (11%) volunteers in the control group. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Ten of the 11 (91%) patients with hepatitis B, 32 of 44 (73%) of those with hepatitis C-related chronic liver disease, and 5 of 5 (100%) of the patients with cryptogenic liver disease were positive for TTV DNA. TTV is highly prevalent in patients with chronic liver diseases in Southeast Anatolia, Turkey but no pathogenic effect attributable to TTV infection was detected.