Epidemiology of Hepatitis B,C,D and G Viruses and Cytokine Levels among Intravenous Drug Users

To investigate the features of various hepatitis virus infection in intravenous drug users （IVDU）, we conducted an epidemiological survey of hepatitis viruses including hepatitis B virus （HBV）, hepatitis C virus （HCV）, hepatitis D virus （HDV） and hepatitis G virus （HGV） in IVDU. The correlation of Tn lymphocyte cytokine and hepatitis virus infection was examined. A. study population of 406 IVDU consisted of 383 males and 23 females. HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA were detected by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction. HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBc, anti-HCV, HDV-Ag and anti-HGV were assayed by ELISA. The levels of cytokines of TH1 and TH2 were measured by ELISA. The similar indices taken from 102 healthy persons served as controls. The infection rate of each virus among IVDU was 36.45% for HBV, 69. 7 % for HCV, 2.22 % for HDV, and 1.97 % for HGV, respectively. The co-infection rate of HBV and HCV was detected in 113 of 406 （27. 83 %）. In contrast, among controls, the infection rate was 17.65% for HBV and 0% for the other hepatitis viruses. The levels of PHA-induced cytokines （IFN-γ and IL-4） and the level of serum IL-2 were obviously decreased in IVDU. On the other hand, the level of serum IL-4 was increased. The IFN-γ level was continuously decreased when the IVDU was infected with HBV/HCV. In conclusion, HBV and HCV infection were common in this population of IVDU and they had led to a high incidence of impaired TH 1 cytokine levels.

Prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus among intravenous drug users： a systematic review and meta-analysis

Intravenous drug users(IDUs) have been demonstrated to be highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.Nevertheless, the prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus(KSHV), an important co-infected agent with HIV, among this population remained obscure. We conducted a systematic review on the epidemiological features of KSHV among IDUs worldwide. Eligible studies were retrieved from 6 electronic databases(Pub Med, EMBASE, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang).We calculated the pooled prevalence and 95% confidence interval(CI) overall and among subgroups using either random-effects model or fixed-effects model depending on between-study heterogeneity. The potential publication bias was assessed by the Egger's test. A meta-regression analysis was performed to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Finally, twenty-two studies with a total sample of 7881 IDUs were included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of KSHV was14.71%(95% CI 11.12%–19.46%) among IDUs. Specifically, KSHV prevalence was 10.86%(95% CI6.95%–16.96%) in HIV-negative IDUs, and 13.56%(95% CI 10.57%–17.38%) in HIV-positive IDUs.Moreover, prevalence among IDUs from the three continents involved in the current study was similar:16.10%(95%CI 7.73%–33.54%) in Asia; 14.22%(95%CI 8.96%–22.57%) in Europe and 14.06%(95%CI11.38%–17.37%) in America. Globally, IDUs are at higher risk of the KSHV infection when compared with the general population, regardless of geographical region or HIV-infection status.