Prevalence of Occult Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Egyptian Patients with Lymphoma: A New Vision

Occult hepatitis C virus infection (OCI) is the absence of HCV RNA in serum and the presence of actively replicating HCV RNA in hepatocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), as evidenced by the presence of antigenomic negative sense single-stranded RNA. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of OCI in Egyptian lymphoma patients and assess changes in biochemical parameters in patients with confirmed OCI. The current study was conducted on 100 apparently healthy subjects as control group and 100 patients with lymphoma as a case group. HCV RNA was extracted and detected in both plasma and PBMCs using qRT-PCR. Total protein, albumin, ALT, AST, and total and direct bilirubin were measured in serum. OCI was detected in 6% of the patient group. OCI patients had lower levels of total protein and serum albumin and higher ALT and AST compared with lymphoma patients without OCI. Our study revealed that six out of 100 patients with lymphoma disorders had occult HCV infection (6%). Therefore, the possibility of this infection should be considered in patients with lymphoma.