Investigation of anticardiolipin antibodies in chronic hepatitis B infection together with total anti-delta positivity

Abstract

Anticardiolipin antibodies (ACAs) are formed against phospholipids in various clinical conditions such as autoimmune diseases, malignancy, infectious diseases, alcohol-related and hepatic cirrhosis. The aims of this study were to investigate the presence of ACAs in patients with chronic hepatitis B together with positive total anti-delta antibodies, and to investigate the relationship between age, gender, and some laboratory parameters (ALT, AST, albumin, globulin, platelet number) of patients with chronic hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection, who were positive or negative for ACAs. A total of 60 patients (43 male, 17 female) with chronic hepatitis D infection [HBsAg positive, HBeAg negative, anti-HBe positive, anti-HBc IgG positive, anti-HBc IgM negative, total anti-delta positive, anti-HCV negative] and 30 patients (21 male, 9 female) without hepatitis D infection [HBsAg positive, HBeAg negative, anti-HBe positive, anti-HBc IgG positive, anti-HBc IgM negative, total anti-delta negative, anti-HCV negative] as control group were included to the study. ACA IgG and IgM were searched by a commercial microELISA kit (Euroimmun, Germany). The statistical evaluation was performed with Pearson's chi-square test, Student's t-test, and Fisher's exact test. Total ACAs positivity rate of 60 patients with chronic HDV infection, was found as 13.3%, in which four of the patients were positive for only ACA IgM, while four was positive for only IgG. Positivity for both ACA IgG and ACA IgM could not be detected in these patients. No patients in the control group had positivity for ACAs (IgG and/or IgM). A statistically significant difference was observed in terms of ACA positivity between patients with and without HDV infection (p<0.05). After all, there was no statistically significant correlation between ACAs positivity and the age, sex, and laboratory parameters of the patients with chronic HIDV infection, except lower serum albumin levels (p=0.004). Although the data of this study revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between chronic HDV infection and anticardiolipin antibodies, it is clear that there is a need for further studies on this subject.