TY - JOUR
TI - THE FREQUENCY OF HEPATITIS-B VIRUS-INFECTION IN GREEK PATIENTS WITH
VARIOUS TYPES OF GLOMERULONEPHRITIS
AU - NAKOPOULOU, L
AU - STEFANAKI, K
AU - ZEIS, PM
AU - BOLETIS, J and
AU - PAPADAKIS, J
AU - VOSNIDES, G
AU - DAVARIS, P
JO - European Journal of Epidemiology
PY - 1994
VL - 10
TODO - 6
SP - 737-742
PB - EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
SN - 0393-2990, 1573-7284
TODO - 10.1007/BF01719291
TODO - GLOMERULONEPHRITIS; GREEK PATIENTS; HEPATITIS B VIRUS
TODO - The frequency of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was studied in the
sera of 622 patients with glomerulonephritis (GN). The prevalence of
HBs-antigenemia was 2.8% (18/622;eleven adults and seven children); the
difference from 2.6% in the general population of Central and Southern
Greece was not statistically significant (chi(2) = 0.01; p > 0.50). Two
of the 11 HBsAg-seropositive adult patients with GN suffered from IgA
nephropathy, one from IgA and membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN), four
from diffuse proliferative GN, two from membranous GN and one each from
crescentic GN and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Five children out
of 12 with membranous glomerulonephritis, one out of 24 with IgA
nephropathy and one out of 16 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis
had HBs-antigenemia. The frequency of HBs-antigenemia in children with
MGN was 41.7%, which is significantly higher than in children with
others types of GN (0.9%). All seropositive patients were asymptomatic
HBsAg carriers, while one seropositive HBsAg child with MGN suffered
from chronic persistent hepatitis. HBsAg was detected by the
immunoperoxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method in the glomeruli of only 3
children with MGN and HBs antigenemia, while HBcAg was not detected in
any case. Our study suggests that in the Greek population there is no
increased prevalence of HBs-antigenemia in patients with
glomerulonephritis. Moreover, HBsAg was not found to contribute in the
pathogenesis of GN in adults but it may be associated with the
pathogenesis of membranous GN in children.
ER -