conclusions in comparison with the rate of hbcab positivity reported in other iranian studies, the rate was higher in the present study. there were a few variations, genotypes, and subtypes among the infected injecting drug users. further investigations are needed to unravel the molecular characterization of obi. results sixty-four (28%) participants were hbcab positive, 59 cases were hbcab pos...

An enzyme immuno assay for hepatitis C core antigen was recently developed and its performance was compared with that of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in the screening of HCV infection in patients on hemodialysis. One hundred and eleven chronic renal failure patients undergoing haemodialysis between May 2003 and October 2004 were included in the study. All the patients were tested for anti HC...

Hepatitis B virus DNA was extracted from serial serum samples of a hepatitis B surface antigen-negative patient with antibodies to the core protein as the only marker of an infection with hepatitis B virus. This patient showed no symptoms of hepatic injury. Sequencing of the amplified viral DNA demonstrated multiple amino acid changes clustering in surface-exposed regions of the surface protein...

The human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line PLC/PRF/5, which synthesizes and secretes hepatitis B surface antigen, was grown under optimal conditions in tissue culture, using Eagle's minimal essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 10(-11) M triiodothyronine on collagen rafts. Injection s.c. of the PLC/PRF/5 cell line into athymic BALB/c nude mice resulted in the growth of...

Genetic characterization of the genotype 3a (GT3a) hepatitis C virus (HCV) core region from HCV core antigen (HCVcAg)-negative/RNA-positive cases and HCVcAg-positive/RNA-positive controls identified significant associations between the substitutions A48T and T49A/P and failure to detect HCVcAg (P < 0.05). Polymorphisms at residues 48 and 49 in the core protein are present across all major epide...

The systematic screening of 253 children with transfusion-dependent homozygous beta-thalassaemia revealed a high incidence of hepatitis B virus markers. The highest frequencies of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) were found in the group of patients with the smallest number of transfusions, while the highest frequency of antibody to hepatiti...