Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) seropositivity may confer an increased risk of liver fibrosis in immunosuppressed individuals. We studied this effect in HIV-infected individuals in Nepal, a country hyperendemic for HEV.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 200 HIV-positive individuals. Serum samples were tested for components of fibrosis scores and cytokeratin-18.
RESULTS: Of 200 patients, 43% were HEV-immunoglobulin G+. The mean fibrosis-4 score was 8.02 in the HEV-positive and 1.17 in the HEV-negative group (P<0.001). The mean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease score was 2.12 in the HEV-positive and -2.53 in the HEV-negative group (P=0.02). The mean aminotransferase-platelet ratio index score was 0.37 in the HEV-positive and 0.38 in the HEV-negative group (P=0.9). The mean cytokeratin-18 levels were 119.9 in the HEV-positive group and 158.6 in the HEV-negative group (P=0.08).
CONCLUSION: We found higher fibrosis-4 and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease scores in HEV-HIV-positive individuals, suggesting an increased liver fibrosis profile in this group. Further studies using liver stiffness measurements should be carried out.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 503-505 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- HIV
- hepatitis E virus
- liver fibrosis
- Severity of Illness Index
- Prospective Studies
- Hepatitis E/complications
- Humans
- Male
- Seroepidemiologic Studies
- Coinfection/epidemiology
- Nepal/epidemiology
- Young Adult
- Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/epidemiology
- HIV Infections/complications
- Liver Cirrhosis/epidemiology
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Female
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
