Etiology of hepatitis G virus (HGV) and hepatitis type C virus (HCV) infections in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients in Southern Iran

Abstract

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) and hepatitis type C virus (HCV) may implicate malignant lymphoma including  non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) for inducing the proliferative process of lymphocytes. In this study, the molecular and serologic prevalence of HGV and HCV infections was evaluated in patients with NHL and  compared with the controls. In this cross sectional study, ethylene diamine-tetra acetic acid (EDTA)-treated  blood samples were collected from 140 patients with NHL and 120 healthy controls from 2007 to 2011 years.  The serological markers of HCV and HGV viruses were evaluated in both studied groups by enzyme linked  immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Also, the HGV and HCV viremia was analyzed in patients with NHL  and control group by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR protocols. Anti-E2-Ab was detected in 5 of 140 (3.6%)  NHL patients. HGV-RNA was diagnosed in 6 of the 140 (4.3%) studied patients. HGV-RNA was diagnosed in 3 of the 120 (2.5%) controls. HCV-RNA was diagnosed in 22 of the 140 (15.7%) patients with NHL. Also,  significant difference was detected in the prevalence of HCV genome between NHL and the controls. Significant differences were not found in serologic and molecular prevalence of HGV between NHL and the controls.  Determination of the active and persistent infections of HGV in patients with NHL compared with the controls and also identification of higher significant prevalence of HCV infection in patients with NHL proposed strong association between HCV infection and NHL pathogenesis.

Key words: Hepatitis G virus (HGV), hepatitis type C virus (HCV), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).