Selenium is essential to human health, and its deficiency is associated with different diseases including liver necrosis. Selenium is protective against viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The underlying molecular mechanisms of selenium effects are not well known. In this study, in vitro response of HCC-derived cell lines to selenium deficiency is examined alone or in conjunctio...

Selenium is essential to human health, and its deficiency is associated with different diseases including liver necrosis. Selenium is protective against viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The underlying molecular mechanisms of selenium effects are not well known. In this study, in vitro response of HCC-derived cell lines to selenium deficiency is examined alone or in conjunctio...

WHY IMMUNE ESCAPE IS IMPORTANT Knowledge of the molecular virology of the hepatitis viruses and the responses they elicit has emphasised the importance of host immunity in resolving infection and mediating liver damage. Many viruses cause cytolytic infections in which viral replication occurs at the expense of host cell viability. However this is a shortsighted strategy for the virus as it prov...

UNLABELLED The hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can infect cells of the lymphatic system. It is unknown whether HIV-1 co-infection impacts infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) subsets by the HBV. AIMS To compare the detection of HBV genomes and HBV sequences in unsorted PBMCs and subsets (i.e., CD4+ T, CD8+ T, CD14+ monocytes, CD19+ ...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and specific viral factors have been identified that may increase the risk for HCC development. However, the differences in these viral factors in chronic carriers who seldom develop HCC compared with HCC patients have not been adequately evaluated. METHODS From 1989 to 2005, 101 hepatitis ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains to be one of the most prevailing infection in the world, causing chronic liver diseases. Although lamivudine has been effective to suppress HBV replication, longer durations of administration can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant mutant viruses, followed by reactivation of hepatic inflammation (breakthrough hepatitis). Moreover, the optimal period...

The human MxA protein is an interferon (IFN)-inducible GTPase with proven antiviral activity against diverse viruses. IFN responsiveness is impaired in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Accordingly, initial experiments showed that, in contrast to parental HepG2 cells, when HepG2-derived 2.2.15 liver cells carrying the HBV genome were treated with IFN, they could not synthesize the MxA ...

Entecavir (ETV) is a potent and selective inhibitor of hepatitis B virus replication. In HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative lamivudine-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), treatment with ETV at a dose of 0.5 mg daily is associated with a more potent viral suppression, a higher rate of biochemical remission and a greater improvement of liver histology compared to Lamivudine (LAM). After...

OBJECTIVE S The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between vaccine therapy and appearance of mutations in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS 16 patients received the HBV vaccine and another 16 individuals from the control group did not. The surface gene was amplified and directly sequenced from samples p...