Background: Presence of occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) renders HBS ANTIGEN (HBSAg) undetectable by ELISA. Therefore it is valuable to evaluate the frequency of OBI among healthy blood donors to improve and perhaps change the strategies of blood screening to reduce the risk of HBV transmission.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the presence of HBcAb and HBV DNA among Iranian HBSAg negative healthy blood donors who donated their blood to the Tehran Blood Transfusion Center during 2011.Patients and Methods: 1000 serum specimens negative for HBSAg, HCV antibody and HIV antibody were collected from healthy blood donors and tested for HBcAb. Presence of hepatitis B viral DNA was checked in HBcAb positive samples by nested PCR with two sets of primers to amplify part of HBV S gene.Results: There were 64 women and 936 men in the population under study. The mean ± SD age of the donors was 38 ± 11 years. 80 out of 1000 samples (8%) were found to be positive for HBcAb. HBV DNA was detected in 50% of HBcAb positive specimens. The mean ± SD age of donors without HBV DNA was 37.7 ± 10.5 years and for donors with HBV DNA was 40.9 ± 11.2 years (P=0.05).Conclusions: OBI was prevalent among 50% of HBcAb positive healthy blood donors. The frequency of positive HBcAb among healthy HBSAg negative blood donors was comparable to previous studies reported from Iran. On the other hand, the frequency of HBV DNA in HBSAg negative blood donors was higher than previous reports.

Aims Hepatitis B infection is one of the common diseases and the most prevalent communicable virus transferred by blood to the healthcare personnel. Active immunity, through vaccination, is the most effective way to prevent hepatitis B infection. The current study aimed to determine the protective antibody titer against HBS ANTIGEN in Gonabad University of Medical Sciences students, Gonabad City, Iran, 2018. Methods & Materials The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 416 students of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. The HBSAb level was determined in blood samples by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit made in Iran. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequency distribution tables and inferential statistics as independent 2-sample t-test and Chi-square test to determine the relationship between variables. The significance level was considered P<0. 05. Findings HBSAb level of 217 cases (51. 8%) was below 10 IU/mL, 96 (61. 3%) had an HBSAb level between 10 and 100 IU/mL, and in 106 (36. 5%) cases, HBSAb level was above 100 IU/mL. There was no statistically significant difference between the means of HBSAb in terms of gender, age, and body mass index (P<0. 05). Conclusion In general, more than 50% of the study participants had mild immunity against hepatitis B viruses. Therefore, in these people, it is recommended to check the antibody titer periodically to ensure immunity against hepatitis B.

Introduction: Phlebotomy is one of the main components of the Islamic medicine, which is still in use for the purpose of treatment of fever and inflammatory diseases. Although it has been effective in treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases, its mechanism of action is not still accurately determined. One hypothesis in this regard proposes that phlebotomy modulates immune system. Thus, we have evaluated the probable effect of phlebotomy on immune system modulation by measuring the serum level of hepatitis B antibody after hepatitis B vaccination.Methods: In the study, two groups (experiment and control) each consisted of 25 young male volunteers in the age range of 18-25 were evaluated. The participants of the two groups received hepatitis B vaccine twice, with one month interval. The experiment group participants also underwent phlebotomy one time. The hepatitis B antibody titer was measured three times (before, one month after, and three months after vaccination) using ELISA in IU/L.Findings: The results showed that the antibody level increase to 81.3 and 57.46 IU/L one and three months, respectively, in the control group, while the level in the experiment group was 41.3 and 16.26 IU/L one and three months after vaccination, respectively. In spite of the lower increase in antibody titer of the experiment group after three months, the difference was not statistically significant.Discussion and conclusion: Immunization with hepatitis B vaccine led to an increase in specific antibody production in both groups. It seems that phlebotomy in men of this age range does not affect the level of antibody production.

Aim: In the present study, a new formulation of HBSAg vaccine was developed and compared with a commercial peer. Background: Vaccination of hepatitis B infection has been an unavoidable affair since the 1980s, though it has numerous limitations such as inefficacy in the induction of cellular immune responses. To address these limitations, research on novel formulations is necessary to develop a superior formulation with the potency of induction of both cellular and humoral immune responses. Methods: HBSAg was formulated in oil-in-water adjuvant Montanide ISA-266 (5 μ g/dose) using homogenizer. Balb/C mice were then immunized three times at days 0, 14, and 28 with HBSAg/Montanide ISA-266 or HBSAg/alum with proper control groups. Two weeks after the last immunization, immunological parameters including IL-2, IL-4, TNF-α , IFN-γ , total IgG and IgG1/IgG2a isotypes were assessed by ELISA. Results: The results demonstrated that the formulation of HBSAg with Montanide ISA-266 enhanced humoral immune responses versus the commercial vaccine and control groups. No significant difference in terms of Th1 pattern was found between HBSAg/Montanide ISA-266 and the commercial vaccine. Conclusion: Formulation of HBSAg with an oil-based adjuvant may be useful for the induction of a more potent humoral immune response compared to the commercially available HBV vaccine.

G6PD deficiency, Favism, is an X-linked recessive hereditary disease caused by the deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Fatigue, severe weakness, anemia, jaundice, and symptoms like hepatitis are the signs of a famous spring disease called Fava beans disease. Lack or deficiency of glucose-6-phosphat dehydrogenase in red blood cells prevents the regeneration of glutathione in the cell causing failure in the protection against oxidative stress like free radicals and infection. In the current research, we have studied the prevalence of hepatitis B in patients with Favism visiting SINA laboratory in Guilan. In this descriptive research 82 patients with Favism who had gone to the hospital during 2013-2014 were studied using ELISA test for HBS. ANTIGENs, G6PD, CBC and other required information which collected as questionnaires. Finally all data analyzed using SPSS software. Also as control, amongst 7302 patients, 41 were positive in HBS.Ag and amongst these 41, (24.3) percent of the patients with Favism. Given that the prevalence of hepatitis is (0/56) percent, there is a Significant correlation among the patients with Favism and those with hepatitis. Therefore, there is a need for more investigation in the case of molecular mechanism of the patients with Favism susceptible to hepatitis.

INTRODUCTION: Health employees have always high risk to be affected by hepatitis B. This study was conducted to determine serum concentration of anti HBS antibody in employees of Tohid hospital in Sanandaj that were previousley vaccinated against hepatitis B.MATERIALS & METHODS: This study was a descriptive study. The subjects were 100 empolyees of Tohid hospital of Sanandaj. The data was registered in a check list. The serum samples were titrated by ELISA method.RESULTS: Serum titer of anti HBS Ab in forthy two subjects (42%) was more than 100 IU/li. It was 10-100 IU/li in 25% and lower than 10 IU/li in 33% of the subjects. The serum titer of anti HBS Ab was related to the time of last dose of vaccination (P<0.025). However, it was not related with sex, age and body mass index (BMI) of the subjects. CONCLUSION: According to this study, immunization is effective in 67% of the subjects while it is not effective in 33%. So, repeat vaccination may be recommended in many high risk persons

Unresponsiveness to hepatitis B surface ANTIGEN (HBSAg) has been shown to be associated with dysfunction of the presenting cells (APC) and defect in the specific B-lymphocyte and/or T-lymphocyte repertoires. Direct determination of the frequency of specific T-lymphocytes together with complementary analysis of the naive circulating immune cells could provide valuable information about the cellular basis of unresponsiveness to HBSAg. In this study, the phenotypic characteristics of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy adult high-responders (n = 19), intermediate-responders (n = 11), low-responders (n = 9) and non-responders (n = 6) to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine were investigated and compared. The proportions of circulating B-lymphocytes (CD19+ cells), T-lymphocytes (CD3+ cells) and monocytes (CD14+) were similar in all groups of responder individuals (14%, 55-60% and 11-13%, respectively) compared to non-responders (16%, 64% and 9%, respectively). These results suggest that the cellular basis for the lack of response to HBSAg is not associated to a generalized deficiency of immune cells in the non-responder subjects, rather it may reflect a defect in HBSAg-specific B or T cells.

Background: The leading cause of mutations in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome is the high rate of nucleotide misincorporation during reverse transcription. Most mutations were found within the “a” determinant of the S gene’s major hydrophilic region (MHR). They resulted in escape mutants due to amino acid changes in the MHR. However, mutations outside the MHR can also trigger escape mutants. Objectives: This study focused on further molecular studies on the MHR of genotype D of HBV DNA isolated from patients with chronic HBV infection, together with the coexistence of hepatitis B surface ANTIGEN (HBSAg) and hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBS) in their serum samples. Methods: In this study, serum samples from 83 patients with chronic HBV infection were analyzed by serological and immunological tests for the concurrence of HBSAg and anti-HBS. In addition, the mutation in the HBV DNA was assessed by nucleotide sequencing of S genes within, upstream, and downstream of the MHR. Results: Among 83 patients with chronic HBV infection, the coexistence of HBSAg and anti-HBS were detected in 11 (13.25%) individuals. Mutations in eight amino acids of seven samples analyzed for nucleotide sequencing were observed at 27 different sites in three locations, namely upstream, within, and downstream of the MHR. The mutations affected the structure of the epitope and the appearance of an escape mutant. Conclusions: The results indicated that mutations downstream and upstream of the MHR play a role in the coexistence of HBSAg and anti-HBS in patients with chronic HBV infection.