Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary functions in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection

الملخص EN

bjective: To determine the prevalence of HCV infection in patients with non Hodgkin's lymphoma in Assiut University Hospital and Cancer Institute of South Egypt.

Patients and Methods: Eighty unselected patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were tested for the presence of Hepatitis C virus antibodies using Elisa immunoabsorbant assay.

Two control groups were utilized for comparison; the first is a cohort ofpatients with non-haematological neoplasms; and the 2nd is a group of healthy blood donors.

Patients with previous history of blood transfusion or liver disease were excluded from the study.

RESULTS: thirty-eight of the 80 B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (47%) tested positive for Hepatitis C virus antibodies.

About 24 out of 100 (24%>) and 22 out of 80 (27.5%) patients tested positive for Hepatitis C virus antibodies in the first and 2nd control groups.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate a higher prevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection in Assiut patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than in the control groups.

The prevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection in the 2 control groups, in turn, seems to fall within the estimated high prevalence in the general population of our country.

B lymphocytes by a DNA parvovirus was shown to induce polyclonal and, later, monoclonal immunoglobulin production in minks.

On the basis of - these observations, it has been hypothesized that chronic HCV infection, alone or in combination with other factors, may lead to the development of B-cell lymphoma, (Zuckerman etal 1997).

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV infection in patients with B-cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma in Assiut University Hospital and Cancer Institute of South Egypt.