OBJECTIVE Current data on the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in HIV-positive individuals conflict. As occult HBV infection could have an impact on the outcome of liver disease in HIV-positive patients, we investigated a large number of HIV-positive/HBV-surface-antigen (HBsAg) negative subjects with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by using the 'gold standard' approach f...

Little is known about the optimal management of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who develop drug resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of different drug regimens in chronically HBV-infected patients. HBV viral load was determined using a bDNA assay and the substitutions in HBV-DNA were studied by polymerase sequencing test. The study involved 38 patients...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly contagious and causes liver diseases. Globally more than 350 million people are chronically infected and among them above 80 % are from developing countries like Bangladesh. Resistance to existing drugs and vaccines are common phenomenon due to mutations in HBsAg 'a' determinant. Due to lack of data about mutations and subtypes of HBV in Bangladesh, ...

I most Asian countries, with a general carrier rate of 5%–35%, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is hyperendemic (1). HBV is a member of Hepadnaviridae, a family of enveloped hepatotropic DNA viruses. It has a circular, partially doublestranded DNA of 3200 nt (2). This virus can cause severe liver disease with eventual progression to cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (3). HBV...

AIM To investigate the prevalence and virological characteristics of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in patients with hematological malignancies in South Egypt. METHODS Serum samples were collected from 165 patients with hematological malignancies to monitor titers of HBV DNA, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and antibodies to HBV core (anti-HBc) and surface antigens. Serum samp...

We compared a home-made sequencing system to analyze plasma samples from patients with chronic HBV infection with the commercial TRUGENE(®) HBV Genotyping Assay. A PCR and sequencing protocol based on published primers was applied to detect the viral genotypes as well as the major patterns of point mutations leading to resistance to lamivudine, adefovir and entecavir. For the determination of H...

Introduction The overall health status of workers of tea garden of Bangladesh is below the national standard. Also, almost nothing has been reported about status of hepatitis virus infection among these population and there is also a lack of consensus. Materials and methods Several health-related facts, especially those of liver diseases, were collected from 130 workers of tea garden via ques...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global health issue. Effective and individualized treatment of chronic hepatitis B to prevent progression to end-stage liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma is needed. HBV can be classified into eight genotypes (A-H) on the basis of genome sequence divergence. In addition, several naturally occurring HBV mutants have also been identified. The epidemi...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of super infection of hepatitis C and D in patients with hepatitis B related complex liver disorders and the distribution of HBV genotypes in these patients. STUDY DESIGN Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY The Gastroenterology Unit of PMRC in JPMC, Karachi, from July 2006 to June 2007. METHODOLOGY All patients registered for HBV associated ...

BACKGROUND Although chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been established as a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the roles of viral load and HBV genotype remain unclear. METHODS From 1988 through 1992, baseline blood samples were collected from 4841 Taiwanese men who were HBV carriers but had not been diagnosed with HCC. We used real-time polymerase chain reaction assays ...