Prevalence of serum antibodies to hepatitis B and C viruses in patients with primary glomerulonephritis

Abstract

We retrospectively analysed the medical records of patients who underwent renal biopsy in our nephrology department over the past 8 years. Our aim was to discover the frequency of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with primary glomerulonephritis (GN) in Turkey, a moderately endemic country for both infections. The study included 144 male and 104 female patients aged between 12-70 years. The frequency of HBsAg and anti-HCV were found to be similar to healthy controls, respectively 6.5% and 1.6% (p >0.05). As is true for low endemic countries, HBV and HCV infections might be rarely associated with GN in Turkey.