BACKGROUND HBV-HIV co-infection is associated with an increased liver-related morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about the natural history of chronic hepatitis B in HIV-infected individuals under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) receiving at least one of the two drugs that also affect HBV (TDF and LAM). Information about HBeAg status and HBV viremia in HIV/HBV co-infe...

In a study of 105 asymptomatic HBsAg positive blood donors, 9 (8.6%) were found to have HBeAg, 38 (36.2%) anti-HBe, and the remaining 58 (55.2%) neither marker detectable by gel diffusion. There was no correlation between HBeAg/anti-HBe status and HBsAg sub-types, Glm allotypes, the presence of anti-Gm, red cell antibodies, or rheumatoid factor. Rheumatoid factor activity could be removed from ...

OBJECTIVES This meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine (either alone or with interferon alfa) in treating chronic hepatitis B. METHODS We searched the TCMLARS, AMED, CISCOM, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Collaboration databases and then hand-searched the articles' bibliographies. RESULTS Chinese herbal medicine significantly increased seroreversi...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health problem that is associated with huge social and economic costs. Early antiviral drugs, such as interferon-α2b, peginterferon-α2a, lamivudine, and adefovir, all have their limitations (such as low responses or safety concerns) in clinical application. Telbivudine and entecavir are two of the latest nucleotide drugs and both ...

Current pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN) treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients are suboptimal, and effective ways of improving PEG-IFN treatment efficacy are needed.This retrospective cohort study compared the efficacy of a PEG-IFN stepwise optimization treatment (PEG-IFN SOT) strategy with that of a 48-week PEG-IFN standard therapy (PEG-IFN ST) in HBeAg-po...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Entecavir (ETV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) are potent antiviral agents that might have additive or synergistic antiviral activity in treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We compared the efficacy and safety of ETV monotherapy with those of a combination of ETV and TDF. METHODS We performed a randomized, open-label, multicenter, superiority study ...

OBJECTIVE The investigation regarding the clinical significance of quantitative hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) during chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of anti-HBc as a predictor for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB patients treated with peginterferon (Peg-IFN) or nucleos(t)ide analogues...

Genotype C of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been shown to be associated with a poor clinical outcome, compared to genotype B. To explore the clinical phenotypes, with special reference to the seroconversion of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and frequency of acute exacerbation between patients infected with HBV genotypes B and C, a cohort of 272 Taiwanese patients with chronic HBV infection was ana...

Serum samples from 214 blood donors in the United Kingdom who were carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were examined for hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by DNA:DNA hybridisation and for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and its antibody. One fifth of the donors carried infectious virus in their circulation. The presence of hepatitis B virus DNA correlated well with that of...