Objectives: Diagnosis of the occult HEPATITIS B virus (HBV) infection in patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HEPATITIS C virus (HCV) is important due to the fact that the HBV infection may have a clinical impact on liver disease in coinfected HIV/HCV patients. Isolated HEPATITIS B core antibody (HBcAb) positive HBV infection has been reported in HIV patients.The aim of this study was to determine the occult HEPATITIS B in patients co-infected with HCV-HIV.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, HEPATITIS B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBcAb tests were performed for all HIV-HCV co-infected patients, referred to the HIV Clinic of Hamadan. HBsAb was requested for HBsAg negative-HBcAb positive individuals and in the case of negative HBsAb, HBV-DNA PCR was performed. Finally the collected data was analyzed with SPSS.Results: Of 103 HIV-HCV coinfected patients, both HBsAg and HBcAb were positive in 7 patients (6.8%), negative in 44 (42.7%) patients and 52 (50.5%) of all patients were HBsAg negative and HBcAb positive, which positivity of HBsAg had statistical correlation with positivity of HBcAb. In the last group HBsAb and HBV-DNA PCR were done, which resulted in the titer of antibody to be positive in 4 patients (7.7%) and the PCR to be negative in all (100%) patients.Conclusions: The significant number of coinfected HIV-HCV patients only had HBcAb positive test without detectable HBV-DNA.Further studies for detection of HBV-DNA in both serum and liver biopsy specimens may help clarify the impact of HBV infection in coinfected HIV/HCV patients.

HEPATITIS B and C VIRUSES are major public health problems. These VIRUSES can chronically lead to liver disease such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, which often increase mortality in these patients. According to previous studies, the liver is highly affected by changes in the microbiota of gastrointestinal tract and immune system damage caused by inflammation due to viral HEPATITIS. Significant advances have been made in identifying gastrointestinal microbiota in cirrhotic patients associated with viral HEPATITIS and its use in their prognosis and treatment in recent years. Unique bacterial profiles are observed in cirrhotic patients associated with viral HEPATITIS, including increased numbers of Streptococcus, Prevotella, Staphylococcus, and Enterococcus, as well as decreased numbers of Clostridium and Ruminococcus. The purpose of this review was to summarize and discuss the gastrointestinal microbiota profile in patients with chronic HEPATITIS B and C and its role in the progression of cirrhosis.

Today, chronic viral HEPATITIS is considered as a public health problem in the world. Totally, 5% of the world population, especially in Asia and Africa suffer from this problem. The prevalence of acute HEPATITIS in America is 0.1-0.2 percent, 50% of those with HEPATITIS C (HCV) and 5-10% of them with HEPATITIS B (HCV) develop chronic HEPATITIS. Determining HBV and HCV genotypes is important to clarify the disease and pathogenicity of the virus since genotypes are different in terms of pathogenicity and response to treatment. In this project, the number of 90 patients with HEPATITIS B and C referred to a private medical diagnostic laboratory in Rasht was included in this study. After obtaining blood samples from patients, genotyping and determining the amount of HEPATITIS B and C virus were performed. It was found that out of 90 patients, 56 ones (62.2%) had HBV and 34 (37.8%) HCV. In all 56 patients with genotype HBV and in 34 patients with genotype HCV observed genotypes including 1a, 1b, and 3a. The most frequent genotype was 1a which was seen in 18 patients (20%) followed by 3a in 14 patients (15.6%). Only 2 patients (2.2%) had genotype 1b. Knowing the genotype and the viral load of HBV and HCV in each region is important in disease development and treatment. Determining HBV and HCV genotypes is important to clarify the disease progression and pathogenicity of the virus.