PURPOSE To study the changes in serum ferritin levels in lamivudine (LAM)-treated patients with chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis type B and determine whether successful treatment with LAM results in a reduction of serum ferritin levels. METHODS Thirty patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection were followed prospectively during their treatment with LAM for 12 months. Serum H...

HBV genotypes were investigated in sera/plasma from 97 HBV positive subjects. Genotype D was revealed in 80.4% followed by E in 6.2%. Genotypes A, B, and C were also found, as well as for the first time a new combination of HBV D and G genotypes. In a cohort of subjects of this population, the relationship with lamivudine and/or famciclovir-resistant HBV mutants was also investigated. Among 12 ...

INTRODUCTION There seem to be no published data concerning the clinical impact of populations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the hepatic and extrahepatic compartments of HIV-infected people with severe acute hepatitis. CASE PRESENTATION A 26-year-old Caucasian man presenting to our hospital with clinical symptoms suggesting acute hepatitis was found to have an acute hepatitis B profile upon ad...

conclusions hbv vaccination in infancy is effective at preventing chronic hbv infection but is less effective at preventing occult hbv infection. similar studies examining the efficacy of adult hbv vaccination in preventing occult hbv have not been performed. this case highlights the importance of carefully determining the hbv status of high-risk individuals, as vaccination history and the pres...

The fluorinated guanosine analog 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluoroguanosine (FLG) was shown to inhibit wild-type (wt) hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in a human hepatoma cell line permanently expressing HBV. Experiments performed in the duck model of HBV infection also showed its in vivo antiviral activity. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of inhibition of FLG on HBV replication and its p...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causes of liver disease worldwide. It is important to conduct antiviral therapy against chronic hepatitis B to minimize the amount of liver damage. Lamivudine has been known to be an effective antiviral agent for the treatment of HBV infection. However, the emergence of viral mutants resistant to lamivudine is the main concern during the treatment of ...

BACKGROUND The study aimed to clarify whether rtN236V mutation of HBV derived from adefovir dipivoxil (ADV)-refractory patients was associated with drug resistance. METHODS A total of 18,419 patients from Beijing 302 Hospital were investigated. HBV complete reverse transcriptase region of polymerase was screened by direct sequencing and verified by clonal sequencing if necessary. Replication-...

We have recently developed the technology to identify and characterize the human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted, CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to hepatitis B virus (HBV)-encoded antigens in patients with acute viral hepatitis. CTL are expanded in vitro by stimulation with HBV-derived synthetic peptides and selected by restimulation with a panel of HLA...

During infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), immune pressure from cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) selects for viral mutants that confer escape from CTL recognition. These escape variants can be transmitted between individuals where, depending upon their cost to viral fitness and the CTL responses made by the recipient, they may revert. The rates of within-host evolution and their co...

BACKGROUND Genetic variations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) can affect diagnostic assays and therapeutic interventions. Recent changes in prevalence of subtypes/genotypes and drug/immune-escape variants were characterized by comparing recently infected vs more remotely infected blood donors. METHODS Infected donors were identified ...