Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) requires host RNA editing at the viral RNA amber/W site. Of the two host genes responsible for RNA editing via deamination of adenosines in double-stranded RNAs, short inhibitory RNA-mediated knockdown of host ADAR1 expression but not that of ADAR2 led to decreased HDV amber/W editing and virus production. Despite substantial sequence and structural variation among t...

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is distributed worldwide and related to the most severe form of viral hepatitis. HDV is a satellite RNA virus dependent on hepatitis B surface antigens to assemble its envelope and thus form new virions and propagate infection. HDV has a small 1.7 Kb genome making it the smallest known human virus. This deceivingly simple virus has unique biological features and ...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus dependent on Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection for its replication and expression. All patients with HBV infection should be tested for the presence of HDV infection. It is estimated that approximately 5% of hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) carriers in the world are HDV infected patients. HBV-HDV co-infection may lead to more se...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus that is dependent on hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) for transmission and replication. HDV significance arises from the possibility of poor prognosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In Saudi Arabia, HDV prevalence varied from 8 to 32% before the HBV vaccination program and ranged from 0 to 14.7% after the vaccination pro...

Previous studies have indicated that the replication of the RNA genome of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) involves redirection of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), a host enzyme that normally uses DNA as a template. However, there has been some controversy about whether in one part of this HDV RNA transcription, a polymerase other than Pol II is involved. The present study applied a recently described ce...

Chronic infection with the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a risk factor for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but little is known whether the outcome of hepatitis is predicted by serum markers of HDV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of the study was to investigate these correlations in 193 patients with chronic HDV infection who had been followed up for a median of 9.5...

Hepatitis delta is caused by infection with the hepatitis D virus (HDV) and is considered to be the most severe form of viral hepatitis in humans. Hepatitis delta occurs only in hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive individuals as HDV is a defective RNA virus which requires the HBsAg for complete replication and transmission. Eight different HDV genotypes have been described ...

Background—The eVect of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection on the clinical course of cirrhosis type B is poorly defined. Aims—To investigate the impact of HDV status on morbidity and mortality in cirrhosis type B. Patients/Methods—Retrospective cohort study of 200 Western European patients with compensated cirrhosis type B followed for a median period of 6.6 years. Results—At diagnosis, 20% ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus dependent on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection for its replication and expression. It is known that coexistent infection with HDV tends to aggravate the course of HBV-associated liver disease. This study was carried out to determine the seroprevalence of HDV among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive individuals in ...

Whether the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) DNA vaccine can induce anti-HDV antibodies has been debatable. The role of the isoprenylated motif of hepatitis delta antigens (HDAg) in the generation of immune responses following DNA-based immunization has never been studied. Plasmids p2577L, encoding large HDAg (L-HDAg), p2577S, expressing small HDAg (S-HDAg), and p25L-211S, encoding a mutant form of ...