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Background and Aims: Despite the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Africa, few studies have been performed among African patients. We sought to evaluate liver stiffness measurement by FibroScan® (LSM) and two biochemical scores (FibroTest®, Fibrometer®) to diagnose liver fibrosis in Senegalese CHB patients with HBV plasma DNA load ≥3.2 log(10) IU/mL and normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values., Methods: LSM and liver fibrosis biochemical markers were performed on 225 consecutive HBV infected Senegalese patients with high viral load. Patients with an LSM range between 7 and 13 kPa underwent liver biopsy (LB). Two experienced liver pathologists performed histological grading using Metavir and Ishak scoring., Results: 225 patients were evaluated (84% male) and LB was performed in 69 patients, showing F2 and F3 fibrosis in 17% and 10% respectively. In these patients with a 7-13 kPa range of LSM, accuracy for diagnosis of significant fibrosis according to LB was unsatisfactory for all non-invasive markers with AUROCs below 0.70. For patients with LSM values below 7 kPa, FibroTest® (FT), and Fibrometer® (FM) using the cut-offs recommended by the test promoters suggested a fibrosis in 18% of cases for FT (8% severe fibrosis) and 8% for FM. For patients with LSM values greater than 13 kPa, FT, FM suggested a possible fibrosis in 73% and 70%, respectively., Conclusion: In highly replicative HBV-infected African patients with normal ALT and LSM value below 13 kPa, FibroScan®, FibroTest® or Fibrometer® were unsuitable to predict the histological liver status of fibrosis.

The article compares the Abbott Molecular RealTime to the Roche Diagnostics Cobas Taqman automated nucleic acid extraction and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification systems for their capacity to quantify HIV RNA of various subtypes. The Abbott RealTime system quantified all 29 HIV-1 group M supernatants. The limitation of the real-time PCR to span the entire diversity of HIV must be taken into account during treatment monitoring, resistance studies and clinical trials.