Korean J Gastroenterol.  2009 Jun;53(6):355-360. 10.4166/kjg.2009.53.6.355.

A Study on Viral Hepatitis Markers and Abnormal Liver Function Test in Adults Living in Northwest Area of Chungnam

• Kim SB
• Lee WK
• Choi H
• Kim SM
• Noh R
• Kang HY
• Lee SS
• Ra SS
• Gong JH
• Shin HD

• KMID: 1792752
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2009.53.6.355

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We studied the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B, C and abnormality on liver function among the population in northwest area of Chungnam.
METHODS
We have reviewed 40,112 adults who had received medical examination at health promotion center in Dankook university hospital. We studied them retrospectively about HBsAg, HBsAb, anti-HCV, and liver function test (LFT).
RESULTS
Among the study subjects, 22,936 men and 17,176 women were involved. The overall seroprevalence of HBsAg was 4.2%. The prevalence in men (4.5%) was higher than that of women (3.7%) (p<0.001). The seroprevalence of HBsAg in their age was 5.1% in the 5th decade, 4.2% in the 2nd decade, 4.1% in the 4th decade, and 4.1% in the 6th decade. The overall seroprevalence of HBsAb was 65.1%. The overall seroprevalence of anti-HCV was 0.7%. After we reexamined them with HCV RNA or RIBA (Recombinant Immunoblot Assay), the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C was 0.09%. The LFT abnormality in total subjects was 11.4%. The LFT abnormality of chronic hepatitis B and C subjects was 21.72% and 63.2%.
CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B and C was lower than that of previous studies. The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B in the 2nd decade was still high.

Keyword

Prevalence; HBsAg; Anti-HCV; Abnormal LFT

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Child
Female
Hepatitis B Antibodies/blood
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/blood
Hepatitis B, Chronic/*epidemiology/immunology/physiopathology
Hepatitis C Antibodies/blood
Hepatitis C, Chronic/*epidemiology/immunology/physiopathology
Humans
Korea
Liver Function Tests
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
RNA, Viral/blood
Retrospective Studies

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Positivities of HBsAg and anti-HBs according to age. The positivity of HBsAg was still high in young age groups.

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  Fig. 2. Positivities of anti-HCV and chronic hepatitis C according to age. The positivity of anti-HCV increased with age.

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  Fig. 3. The prevalence of abnormal LFT according to HBsAg(＋) and anti-HCV(＋) status. The prevalence of abnormal LFT in HBs(＋) and anti-HCV(＋) subjects HBsAg(−) and anti-HCV(−) subjects with statistical significance (p＜0.001).

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  Fig. 4. The mean AST and ALT levels according to HBs(＋) and anti-HCV(＋) status. Mean AST and ALT levels of HBs(＋) and anti-HCV(＋) subjects were higher than those of HBsAg(−) and anti-HCV(−) subjects with statistical significance (p＜0.001).

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