The relationship between the histological diagnosis and serological and tissue markers of HBV replication in 41 Greek and 29 British patients with chronic HBV infection were studied. All the nine Greek and 13 British patients who were HBeAg positive had HBV-DNA in serum and HBcAg expression in the hepatocytes. The majority (73%) of these patients had active liver disease. Forty seven per cent o...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine the methylation status of intrahepatic hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and to elucidate the possible relationship between the cccDNA methylation and viral replicative activity in patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis (HBV-LC). METHODS The methylation status of HBV cccDNA was investigated by bisulfite sequencin...

A new assay was developed for the detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in human serum using amplification of a short viral DNA sequence by means of the polymerase chain reaction. As little as 0.4 fg viral DNA, corresponding to about 130 genome equivalents, per ml serum could be detected after the amplification procedure. This assay detected viral DNA in a number of patients with proven or suspe...

We undertook a retrospective study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in 81 Caucasian patients with confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Besides HBV and HCV serological markers, HCV RNA and HBV DNA were detected in serum and liver tissue by polymerase chain reaction. Overall, HCV RNA was found in 20 cases (25%), HBV DNA in 21 patien...

PURPOSE The effectiveness of nucleoside analogue on patients with chronic hepatitis B-associated liver failure is still controversial. To address this issue, we did a review of the literatures and analyzed the data with emphasis on the survival and reduction in serum HBV DNA level. METHODS We searched 11 randomized controlled trials that included 654 patients with chronic hepatitis B-associat...

Recovery from an acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with loss of HBV DNA from serum, hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroconversion, and normalization of serum aminotransferases. These changes generally imply clearance of virus, but clinical observations have shown that reactivation of HBV infection can occur either spontaneously or a...

Abstrad We undertook a retrospedive study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infedion in 81 Caucasian patients with confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Besides HBV and HCV serological markers, HCV RNA and HBV DNA were deteded in serum and liver tissue by polymerase chain readion. Overall, HCV RNA was found in 20 cases (25%), HBV DNA in 21 pa...

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects 240 million people worldwide and may cause liver disease including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Initially patients have high levels of HBV DNA in their blood, no liver disease and express the e antigen (HBeAg). At some point an immune response is mounted and the viral load decreases with several log10 copies/ml, they lose HBeAg and sever...

AIMS The impact of co-infection of several hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes on the clinical outcome remains controversial. This study has for the first time investigated the distribution of HBV genotypes in the serum and in the intrahepatic tissue of liver cirrhotic (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients from India. In addition, the genotype-genotype interplay and plausible mechanism...

India has one of the largest pools of hepatitis B-infected patients. The presence of HBs Ag in serum or plasma is an indication of active Hepatitis B infection either acute or chronic. Quantitative detection of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in serum by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay emerged as a gold standard in guided anti viral therapy. Evidences are suggestive of association o...