P- 38 HEPATITIS E VIRUS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE IN COLOMBIA

Introduction and Objectives

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) can induce chronic hepatitis in individuals with immunosuppression and/or chronic liver diseases (CLD). In Colombia, HEV-3 has been detected in pigs, water, and human samples; nevertheless, no studies on individuals with CLD have been previously reported. This study aimed to describe the HEV infection frequency in CLD patients from Colombia.

Materials and Methods

The presence of IgG anti-HEV by ELISA (Diapro, Italy) was evaluated in serum samples from 260 patients with CLD and 60 healthy controls, recruitet through the ESCALON project, in Colombia between 2020-and 2022. Causes of CLD included: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, n=60), cirrhosis (CR, n=120), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD, n=80). Statistical analyses were performed using RStudio-2023.3.0.386 and statistical significance was defined at p<0.05.

Results

The mean age of patients with CLD was 64 years (range 18-89), 47.7% were male and 52.3% female. No significant differences were found in HEV seropositivity rates by sex or age.

The IgG anti-HEV prevalence in the group with CLD was 8.5% (22/260) vs. 10% (6/60) in the healthy control group. When stratified by cause of CLD, the prevalence was: 7.5% (9/120) in CR, 18.3% (11/60) in HCC, and 2.5% (2/80) in NAFLD (Fig.1). Overall, there was no significant difference between HEV seropositivity status in each CLD group when compared to the healthy control group, nor for the interaction between the variable group and age.

Conclusions

This is the first study addressing HEV in patients with CLD in Colombia. We found a similar prevalence of IgG anti-HEV between patients with CLD and healthy controls, with a higher trend only patients with HCC, although this difference was not statistically significant. Larger studies are needed to further elucidate the role of HEV in these populations, increase awareness of the virus and reduce underdiagnosis.