Makvandi M. Update on occult hepatitis B virus infection. World J Gastroenterol 2016; 22(39): 8720-8734 [PMID: 27818588 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i39.8720]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Manoochehr Makvandi, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Boulevard Golestan, Ahvaz 15794-61357, Iran. manoochehrmakvandi29@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 21, 2016; 22(39): 8720-8734 Published online Oct 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i39.8720
Update on occult hepatitis B virus infection
Manoochehr Makvandi
Manoochehr Makvandi, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 15794-61357, Iran
Manoochehr Makvandi, Department of Medical Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 15794-61357, Iran
Author contributions: Makvandi M solely wrote this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest in the content of this review.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Manoochehr Makvandi, Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Boulevard Golestan, Ahvaz 15794-61357, Iran. manoochehrmakvandi29@yahoo.com
Telephone: +98-9166181683 Fax: +98-6113738313
Received: March 28, 2016 Peer-review started: March 29, 2016 First decision: May 30, 2016 Revised: June 13, 2016 Accepted: July 20, 2016 Article in press: July 21, 2016 Published online: October 21, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is defined as negative hepatitis B surface antigen and positive/negative anti-hepatitis B core immunoglobulin G status but hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is detectable in serum and liver tissue. Genotypes A, C, G, E and D have been found among patients with OBI in different regions of the world. Genotype D is the only dominant genotype among Iranian OBI patients. OBI has been reported among many high risk groups, including blood donors, liver transplant recipients, patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus/human immunodeficiency virus, patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy or hemodialysis, patients with liver cirrhosis, cryptogenic liver disease, or abnormal alanine transaminase, healthcare workers, patients with lymphoma or rheumatoid arthritis. It is recommended that to manage and reduce OBI and HBV carriage, the screening of HBV DNA be implemented among high risk groups by means of highly sensitive molecular assays periodically. In addition, comprehensive investigations are needed to understand the epidemiology of OBI worldwide.
