Metagenomic Profiling and Plasma Virome Analysis across Clinical Cohorts of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B and D, Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Nigeria

Chronic hepatitis B infection is one of the leading causes of hepatocellular carcinoma in sub-saharan African while co-infection with Hepatitis D virus causes the most severe form of viral hepatitis ever known to man. The plasma virome of patients with HBV mono- and HBV/HDV co-infection is understudied especially on the role of commensal viruses and other organisms in the emergence and progression of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study therefore aim to evaluate the plasma viromes across cohorts of patients with HBV mono-infection, HBV/HDV co-infection with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma

慢性乙型肝炎（Chronic Hepatitis B, CHB）感染是撒哈拉以南非洲地区肝细胞癌（Hepatocellular Carcinoma, HCC）的主要致病诱因之一，而丁型肝炎病毒（Hepatitis D Virus, HDV）合并感染则会引发人类迄今已知最为严重的病毒性肝炎。目前针对乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）单一感染与HBV/HDV合并感染患者的血浆病毒组（plasma virome）研究仍较为匮乏，尤其是在共生病毒及其他微生物在肝硬化（Liver Cirrhosis）与肝细胞癌的发生、发展过程中所发挥的作用方面。因此本研究旨在对多队列患者的血浆病毒组进行评估，所纳入的患者群体包括HBV单一感染者、伴肝硬化的HBV/HDV合并感染者以及肝细胞癌患者。