The prevalence of anticardiolipin antibodies(ACA), of both IgG and 101 isotypes, was assessed in 78 HIV-negative cases I 43 with chronic IICV, 15 with chronic HBV and 20 normal control!. The 3 groups were age-and sex-matched and non was recieving lllll unomodulatory drugs or drugs known to hid uce ACA. Clinical assessment, abdominal ultrasound, liver function tests, platelet count, and serologcial markers for schistosomal antibodies (Ab), Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and anti-HCV Ab were tested . Serum ACA-IgG and ACA-1gM were done by ELISA. The 1gM-ACA was negative in all of the studied groups (except for 2 cases with chronic HCV). A significantly higher prevalence of ACA IgG was noticed in chronic HEY infection (20.9%) compared to normal control (5%) and chronic HBV (6.7%). Although the ACA-IgG titre was higher in chronic HCV, it could not predict the occurrance of complications in ACA positive cases. Among chronic IICV cases, the ACA positive cases were comparable to ACA negative cases in their age, gender, serum transaminases and the presence of schistosomiasis. Yet, the IgG-ACA positive HCV patients showed higher prevalence of evident cirrhosis, portal hypertension, thrombocytopenia, and past thrombotic insults compared to ACA-negative cases. The 9 ACA-positive chronic IICV cases were "still" ACA-IgG positive when retested after 4 months. So, it seems reasonable to add IICV to the viruses associated with APS. The definite clinical implication of ACA positivity in chronic ['CV is still unclear and remains to be further elucidated. |
