BACKGROUND Newborns who have received hepatitis B immunization in 1980s are now young adults joining healthcare disciplines. The need for booster, pre- and post-booster checks becomes a practical question. AIMS The aim of this study is to refine the HBV vaccination policy for newly admitted students in the future. METHODS A prospective study on medical and nursing school entrants to evaluat...

As a small stress response protein, human αB crystallin, detects protein destabilization that can alter structure and function to cause self assembly of fibrils or aggregates in diseases of aging. The sensitivity of αB crystallin to protein instability was evaluated using wild-type hemoglobin (HbA) and hemoglobin S (HbS), the glutamate-6-valine mutant that forms elongated, filamentous aggregate...

Comparative biophysical and biochemical analyses were performed on purified preparations of hepatitis B antigen (HBs Ag) subtypes adw and ayw, including isoelectric pH evaluations, analysis of the different morphological forms, molecular weight determinations, and analysis of the polypeptides by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Both HBs Ag-positive plasma and purified HBs Ag were analyzed by...

Hepatitis B virus S protein (HBs) plays an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma progression. However, to date, no direct and effective methods exist to research the function of HBs. Here, we combined the technology of RNA interference with recombinant adenovirus, constructed a recombinant adenovirus-expressing small hairpin RNA of HBs, and infected HepG2.2.15 cells. Then, reverse transcri...

The hydrogen bond (HB) is central to our understanding of the properties of water. However, despite intense theoretical and experimental study, it continues to hold some surprises. Here, we show from an analysis of ab initio simulations that take proper account of nuclear quantum effects that the hydrogen-bonded protons in liquid water experience significant excursions in the direction of the a...

Biomolecules are complex systems stabilized by a delicate balance of weak interactions, making it important to assess all energetic contributions in an accurate manner. However, it is a priori unclear which contributions make more of an impact. Here, we examine stacked polyglutamine (polyQ) strands, a peptide repeat often found in amyloid aggregates. We investigate the role of hydrogen bond (HB...

BACKGROUND Ethical and regulatory guidance on the collection and use of human biospecimens (HBS) for research forms an essential component of national health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where rapid advances in genetic- and genomic-based technologies are fueling clinical trials involving HBS and the establishment of large-scale biobanks. METHODS An extensive multi-level search for pub...

Recently, it was suggested that maternal hepatitis B surface antigen antibodies (anti-HBs) acquired transplacentally could play a negative role in newborn infants' immune response to the hepatitis B vaccine. We compared the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine response in infants born to mothers previously vaccinated against HBV (n = 91) to infants born to mothers who were not previously vaccinated ...

BACKGROUND The epidemiological impact and the duration of protection provided by infant hepatitis B (HB) vaccination are unknown. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to determine the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection seromarkers in young adults who have been vaccinated against HBV as the first group of Iranian neonates during 1993 and 1994. PATIENTS AND METHODS We recruited 510 young adults ...