Incidence of Occult Hepatitis B virus infection among Sudanese patient with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Liver Cirrhosis in the absence of Hepatitis C virus

Abstract This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of Occult HBV Infection (OBI) in Sudanese patients living with LC and HCC in absence of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The plasma of 200 recruited patients were tested for HBsAg, anti HBcAg and HBeAg using ELISA kits. The DNA and RNA were extracted from the samples which tested negative for HBsAg and positive for HBcAg by using viral DNA and RNA extraction kit. Real time PCR was performed for detection of HBV and HCV followed by Multiplex Nested PCR with specific HBV genotype primers. Only 2% HCC patients and 3% LC patients were seronegative for both HBsAg. However, high seroprevalence of HBsAg and HBeAg were recorded in HCC patients group compared to LC group with no statistical significant differences. In regards to HBV genotypes, D, E and mixed D/E genotypes were detected in all positive samples with absence of HCV. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 20.0 OBI was detected in hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis patients. These results highlighted the importance of integrating effective OBI screening techniques such as real time PCR and multiplex nested PCR for proper diagnosis and clinical management of liver diseases.