Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a multifunctional cytokine that plays a critical role in apoptosis, differentiation and proliferation. The intensity of IL4 response depends upon binding to its receptor, IL-4R. The therapeutic efficiency of interleukins can be increased by generating structural mutants having greater stability. In the present work, attempts were made to increase the stability of human I...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss/seroconversion is considered to be the ideal endpoint of antiviral therapy and the ultimate treatment goal in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study aimed to assess the patterns of HBsAg kinetics in CHB patients who achieved HBsAg loss during the treatment of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) α-2a. METHODS A total of 150 patients were enrolled, ...

HBsAg clearance is associated with clinical cure of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Quantification of HBsAg may help to predict HBsAg clearance during the natural course of HBV infection and during antiviral therapy. Most studies investigating quantitative HBsAg were performed in HBV mono-infected patients. However, the immune status is considered to be important for HBsAg decline an...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss is the ultimate goal of antiviral therapy and its prediction may be important for treatment individualization. Quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) has been shown to predict response to interferon-α, but few studies have analysed qHBsAg during treatment with nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NAs). Serum interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) has been a...

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is an obligate satellite of hepatitis B (HBV). Dual HDV/HBV infection associated with down-regulated HBV replication and fast progression to severe liver disease. Although HDV transmissible through exposure infected blood, data about in blood donors remain scarce. Between 2011 2021, 869,633 donations were collected from prequalified Dalian, China. In total, 1060 (0.1...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the infections with a highest prevalence in Taiwan. The most important marker is hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Using the new generation of HBsAg quantitative assay, HBsAg level may have good correlation with viral activity during different phases of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. This study was conducted to compare two assays o...

Chronic hepatitis was diagnosed on liver biopsy of 76 patients; 52 (68%)had HBsAg. Of the 52 patients with HBsAg, 23% had HBsAg shown by immunofluorescence on the liver, while it could not be detected with radioimmunoassay on the serum; 77% had HBsAg detectable in liver and in serum, and none had HBsAg in serum only. HBsAg was detected more frequently in chronic aggressive hepatitis and active ...

HIV-HBV infected patients require optimal control of viral replication in order to prevent severe comorbidities, such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The genetic diversity of HBV is a poorly investigated factor of such viral replication in HIV-infected hosts. HBV genome diversity can be differentiated in two major aspects: genotypic and phenotypic. Genotypic diversity is more r...

INTRODUCTION Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) level quantitation may be helpful for understanding the natural history of the disease and its response to treatment. AIM To determine the serum HBsAg levels during the different phases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and HBsAg levels of patients who are on treatment with oral antiviral drugs. MATERIAL AND METHODS PATIENTS WERE CATEGOR...