Background: HEPATITIS D VIRUS (HDV) is a defective RNA VIRUS that depends on the HEPATITIS B surface antigen (HBsAg) of HEPATITIS B VIRUS for its replication, developing exclusively in patients with acute or chronic HEPATITIS B. There are little data regarding the routes of HDV transmission in Iran. The risk factors for HDV infection in Iran are blood transfusion, surgery, family history, Hejamat wet cupping (traditional phlebotomy), tattooing, war injury, dental interventions, and endoscopy.Objectives: We performed this study to determine the prevalence of HEPATITIS D in the general population of Qom province and the potential risk factors for acquiring HDV.Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study collected 3690 samples from 7 rural clusters and 116 urban clusters. HBs antigen was measured, and if the test was positive, anti-HDV was measured. Ten teams, each consisting of 2 trained members, were assigned to conduct the sampling and administer the questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS.Results: Forty-eight subjects (1.3%) suffered from HEPATITIS B, and 1 HBsAg-positive case had HDV infection. The prevalence of HEPATITIS D infection in Qom Province was 0.03%.The prevalence of HEPATITIS D infection in HBsAg-positive cases was 2%. Our anti-HDV-positive case had a history of tattooing, surgery, and dental surgery. There was no significant relationship between tattooing, surgery history, or dental surgery and HEPATITIS D infection.Conclusions: The prevalence of HEPATITIS D in Qom is the the lowest in Iran, similar to a study in Babol (north of Iran).

Background: Available drugs are not able to eradicate intracellular viral DNA in patients with HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) infections. HBsAg vaccine could induce immunity and subsequently eradicate HEPATITIS B VIRUS in proportions of these patients. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of HBsAg as a mode of therapy in inactive carriers.Materials and Methods: Forty two consecutive patients of inactive carriers were enrolled. All patients underwent liver biopsies. The modified Ishak score of all cases were less than 4. Twenty microgram of recombinant HBsAg vaccine injected intradermally 3 times (at 0, one and 6 months). Biochemical and serological variables evaluated initially and 6 months after the last injection.Results: The mean age was 39.6 ± 11.12. Male/female ratio was (67.4%). Two out of 42 cases lost their HBsAg (4.74%). The difference was significant comparing to one percent annual spontaneous HBsAg loss (p=0.014). In addition serum albumin level was significantly increased after vaccination (p=0.009). Rest of the biochemical and serological variables had no significant changes comparing pre and post vaccination.Conclusions: Intradermal injection of HBV surface antigen vaccine could induce significant HBsAg loss. This mode of therapy is cheap, physiologic and without complication. However, the results of this study should be confirmed in further large controlled trial.

Background: HEPATITIS C VIRUS is the leading cause of death in liver-related diseases globally. The identification of innovative drug targets and inexpensive therapeutic agents remain a high priority for chronic HCV infection management. In the last few decades, the availability of highly effective interferon-free regimens for HCV treatment is the only possible option for cure of the large number of chronic HCV patients. Direct acting antiviral drugs, such as Sovaldi, are expensive and their efficacy varies from genotype to genotype. In addition, these drugs are advised in combination with ribavirin and interferon, which makes the treatment costly. Thiazolide derivatives are recently emerging antiviral agents that may change current and future therapies for liver complications caused by HBV and HCV. Nitazoxanides are synthetic nitrothiazolyl-salicylamide derivative of thiazolide, which have been used as anti-HCV drugs. The derivatives of thiazolides were randomly screened for anti-HCV and anti-HBV activity in a biological system, yet the stability and other properties of thesecompoundswere not tested. Representing chemicalcompoundswith Hosoya-polynomial produces closed forms of many topological indices, which correlate with the chemical properties of the material under investigation. These indices are used in the development of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), in which the biological activity and other properties of molecules like boiling point, stability, strain energy, radius of gyration, and viscosity are correlated with their structures. In this paper, Hosoya-polynomials and Weiner indices of some derivatives of thiazolides were determined. Graphs of Hosoya polynomial for these derivatives were also plotted. Objectives: In this study, therefore, it was attempted to extend the research to check the stability and other properties of thiazolide derivatives using the Hosoya-polynomial and Wiener index. Methods: In the first step, Hosoya polynomials of some famous classes of thiazolides were computed, followed by computation of F Wiener indices of thiazolide derivatives. Distance-based graph invariants were used as a structure-descriptor for predicting various physicochemical properties of organic compounds. The Weiner index of 8 derivatives of thiazolidines was computed, including RM-4832, RM-4848, RM-4850, RM-4851, RM-4852, RM-4850, Tizoxanide, and Nitazoxanide. Results: These indices indicate the physiochemical properties of these compounds in relation to stability in the given biological environment. The Wiener indices of the studied compounds ranged from 374 to 684. Out of 8 analyzed compounds, 3 showed Wiener indices of 374. RM-4863 had a maximum index value of 684. Graphs were also drawn for Hosoya polynomials of all these thiazole derivatives. Conclusions: The results confirmed that RM-4863 is a stable physiochemical compound, which might be used as an effective drug for treating viral infections, including HCV and HBV.

One of the five known HEPATITIS VIRUSes that can infect humans is HEPATITIS E VIRUS (HEV). The first documented infection that was caused by HEV occurred in 1955 during an outbreak in New Delhi, India (1). HEV is a small nonenveloped particle that belongs to the familyHepeviridae and the genusHepeVIRUS. Its single-stranded RNA genome has approximately 7200 base pairs (2). By genomic sequence analysis, there are four genotypes (1-4) and at least 24 subgenotypes (1a-1e, 2a-2b, 3a-3j, and 4a-4g) of HEV in humans and other mammals (4). Avian isolates of HEV were initially proposed to constitute the fifth genotype of HEV; but, due to their shorter genome and low homology with mammalian isolates, they have been categorized as a member of a separate genus (3).

In previous issue of HEPATITIS monthly, la torre G et al. from sapienza university and the catholic university of the sacred heart located in rome, Italy, have published their findings on the incidence of HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) infections in Italy (1). In the Italian general population, they estimate that the overall trend, and also the trends in gender and different age groups, has decreased significantly over the period from 1996 to 2006, with an overall significant decrease in incidence from 2.02 to 0.55 per 100,000….

Many studies have reported on the association between human coronary artery disease (CAD) and certain persistent bacterial and viral infections. The aim of the present analysis was to investigate the possible association between HAV infection and angiography proven CAD. Blood from 200 patients undergoing coronary angiography was tested for antibodies to HAV by enzyme immunosorbent assay at Madani Heart Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. CAD prevalence was 90% in HAV seropositive and 84.4% in HAV seronegative patients (Pv= 0.2). This analysis demonstrated that HAV seropositivity is not a risk factor for CAD.