BACKGROUND The coexistence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been explained by the presence of viral escape mutants. Yet, no systematic analysis of such patients has been performed. We analyzed both the HBV strains and the nature of anti-HBs in such patients. METHODS Four hundred eleven pati...

Antiretroviral drug resistance and escape from CTL are major obstacles to effective control of HIV replication. To investigate the possibility of combining drug and immune-based selective pressures against HIV, we studied the effects of antiretroviral drug resistance mutations on CTL recognition of five HIV-1 Pol epitopes presented by common HLA molecules. We found that these common drug resist...

Currently available commercial vaccines against porcine circovirus strain 2 (PCV2) solely target the PCV2a genotype. While PCV2 vaccines are highly effective in preventing clinical signs, PCV2b has dominated over the PCV2a genotype in prevalence, corresponding with the introduction of PCV2a vaccines. A recently emerged PCV2b recombinant with an additional amino acid in the capsid protein, desig...

It is widely accepted that chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the result of an ineffective antiviral immune response against HBV infection. Our previous study found that the hepatitis B surface Ag (HBsAg) was related to decreased cytokine production induced by the TLR2 ligand (Pam3csk4) in PBMCs from chronic hepatitis B patients. In this study, we further explored the mechanism involv...

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can result in liver cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the natural course of the disease is highly dynamic and not every patient requires therapy. The challenges for optimal management are who to treat, which therapeutic regimen to use, and when to begin or stop treatment. Constant monitoring is mandatory to ...

METHODS 6,217 sera samples collected from volunteers in six epidemiologically different regions of Russia were tested for serological and molecular markers of HBV infection. A mathematical model developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was used to estimate the effect of vaccination and birth dose coverage on the incidence of HB and adverse outcomes of infection. RESULT...

Background: The antibody response to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) controls hepatitis B virus infection. The "a" determinant of HBsAg is the most important target for protective antibody response, diagnosis and immunoprophylaxis. Mutations in this area may induce immune escape mutants and affect the performance of HBsAg assays. Objectives: To construct clinically relevant recombinant muta...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE The purpose of this research was to develop an alternative adjuvant for hepatitis B vaccine (HBsAg) that elicits a long-lasting immune response after a single administration. In this study, the suitability of Poly (D, L)-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), Poly lactic acid (PLA) and Chitosan polymers as adjuvants for HBsAg were investigated. METHODS We used solvent evaporation...

Iron tetrasulfonatophthalocyanine (FeTSPc), a peroxidase mimic, was used as a labeling reagent and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIP) as the separation support of the immune complex for the mimetic-enzymatic immunoassay of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). PNIP was precipitated from aqueous solution when the ambient temperature was higher than its lower critical solution temperature of 31 de...

Using the envelope glycoprotein B (gB) crystal structure and digital prediction algorithm, B- T-cell antigenic determinants (epitopes) of human herpesvirus 1 (HHV-1), also known as herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), were generated, method for their production in form recombinant proteins was proposed. First, surface topological domain (ectodomain or spike) gB with mapped epitopes analyzed, most stab...