Previous studies have proved the presence of several distinct types of mutations in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, which are related to the progression of liver disease. However, few reports have detailed the mutation frequencies and mutation patterns in the precore/core (preC/C) region, which are based on the clinical status and HBeAg serostatus. Our aim in this study is to investigate th...

BACKGROUND Amino acid (AA) changes in specific hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) regions were assessed in patients infected with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) after a 12-month untreated period and after receiving antiviral therapy (interferon, lamivudine or adefovir dipivoxil), and in inactive hepatitis B surface antigen-positive carriers. METHODS Samples corresponding to different time points in ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common DNA viruses that can cause aggressive hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although many people are persistently infected with HBV, the kinetics in serum levels of viral loads and the host immune responses vary from person to person. HBV precore/core open reading frame (ORF) encoding proteins, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and core...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype and precore/core promoter mutations have been implicated in spontaneous and interferon alfa (IFN-alpha)-related hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion. We performed a retrospective analysis of a previously reported randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of HBV genotype and precore/core promoter mutations on IFN-alpha response in patients with...

BACKGROUND Accurate and personalized molecular virological diagnosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is crucial for individualized selection of patients for antiviral therapy in Romania. OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate HBV mutations in Romanian patients with chronic HBV infection, also to match HBV genotypes with HBV mutations identified and clinical outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS T...

Until recently, the only generally approved treatment for chronic hepatitis B was alpha-interferon; however, it gives only moderate efficacy in terms of sustained response (biochemical, virological and histological). In fact, only 20% to 40% of treated patients respond to therapy, with lower percentages (~ 10%) among patients infected with precore-mutant strains of HBV (HBeAb HBV-DNA positive)....