BACKGROUND AND AIMS The associations between long-term risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and spontaneous seroclearance of HBV e antigen (HBeAg), HBV DNA and HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) have never been examined by a prospective study using serially measured seromarkers. This study aimed to assess the importance of spontaneous HBeAg, HBV DNA and HBsAg seroclearance in the prediction of HCC r...

BACKGROUND The hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection could activate the immune system and induce extensive inflammatory response. As the most important inflammatory factor, interleukins are critical for anti-viral immunity. Here we investigated whether interleukin-34 (IL-34) play a role in HBV infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study, we first found that both serum IL-34 and IL-34 ...

â background: hepatitis b is still a major health problem in many parts of the world. in some developing countries the most common cause of chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis is hepatitis b virus (hbv). the progression of chronic hepatitis b to cirrhosis andâ  hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) include such viral factors as genotype c and high levels of serum hbv dna in addition to host factors ...

The detection and quantification of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA are essential for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic HBV infection. The use of real-time PCR assays for HBV DNA quantification is strongly recommended. The goal of this study was to evaluate the intrinsic characteristics and clinical performance of version 2.0 (v2.0) of the Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan (CAP/CTM) assay, a fully ...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of 48-week entecavir therapy on serum and intrahepatic hepatitis B virus, covalently closed circular DNA (HBV cccDNA) levels in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients. A total of 120 patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis were treated with entecavir for 48 weeks. Serum HBV markers, total HBV DNA, and HBV cccDNA levels were measured...

PURPOSE The object of the study was the usefulness of sFas and sFasL concentration in the prognosis of disease development in healthy HBsAg carriers. PATIENTS 34 healthy HBsAg carriers were examined over a three-years period. MATERIAL AND METHODS HBV-DNA was extracted using the Gene Elute Mammalian Genomic DNA Miniprep Kit (Sigma, USA). HBV-DNA concentration and YMDD mutations were measured...

BACKGROUND/AIM To assess the correlation between serum HBsAg titers and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels in patients with hepatitis B envelop antigen-negative (HBeAg -ve) HBV genotype-D (HBV/D) infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 106 treatment- naïve, HBeAg -ve HBV/D patients were included; 78 in the inactive carrier (IC) state and 28 in the active hepatitis (AH) stage. HBV DNA load ...

BACKGROUND The administration of hepatitis B immunoglobulin followed by hepatitis B vaccine can result in a protective efficacy of almost 90% in mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV). However, little is known about immunity against HBV infection in children after immunoprophylactic treatment. We tried to assess the association between T-cell responses and viremia in children a...

BACKGROUND Body fluids such as saliva, urine, sweat, and tears from hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers are potential sources of HBV transmission. METHODS Thirty-nine children and 8 adults who were chronically infected with HBV were enrolled. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used for the quantification of HBV DNA. RESULTS HBV DNA was detected in 73.7% of urine samples (14 of 19), 86.8% ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype and precore and basal core promoter (BCP) mutants in the patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and low serum HBV-DNA levels are unclear. The aim of this study was to determine HBV genotypes, precore and BCP mutations, and their association with chronic hepatitis and liver fibrosis in HBV-infected patients with persistently normal ALT, ...