Determination of Serologic and Molecular Prevalence of Hepatitis Type B, C, and G Infections in Patients with Hematological Malignancy in the South of Fars Province, Iran

Background & Objectives: Hepatitis type G virus (HGV) is a flavivirus with RNA genome which has high nucleotide and amino acid similarity with HCV. HGV can infect blood lymphocytes for long period and may have role in inducing or complicating the clinical outcomes in patients with hematological malignancies. Therefore in this study the prevalence of HGV, HCV, and HBV infections were evaluated in patients with hematological malignancies. Materials & Methods: In this study EDTA treated blood samples were collected from 100 patients with hematological malignancies and 110 healthy controls of southern cities of Fars province (Lar, Lamerd, Grash) Iran. The serologic and molecular markers of HGV, HCV, and HBV were analyzed by ELISA and PCR and RT-PCR methods, respectively in Hematology Research Center and Transplant Research Center, Namazi hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Also the role of some risk factors in pathogenesis of these hepatitis viruses was studied statistically. Results: Antibody against E2 antigen of HGV was diagnosed in 5% and 1.1% of patients with hematological malignancies and healthy controls, respectively. Significant difference was found between the prevalence of HGV antibodies in patients with hematological malignancies and healthy controls (P=0.037). The HCV antibody and prevalence of HCV- RNA was detected in 7% and 4% of patients with hematological malignancies respectively. Significant difference was found between the prevalence of HCV-RNA in patients with hematological malignancies and healthy controls (P=0.02). Also HBV viremia was found in 2% of patients. Conclusion: In this study the significant presentation of HGV and HCV were found in patients with hematological malignancies compared with healthy controls. However, the results suggest that similar study should be carryout to evaluate the prevalence of this viral infection in other part of Iran, to control the spreading of these infections to other people.