Cloned DNA probes were used to test for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in the liver and serum of 14 asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers and two former carriers. The results were compared with serological markers of HBV infection and liver histopathology. Three groups of carriers were distinguished. In group I, HBV DNA was present in both liver and serum. Hepatitis B e antigen...

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: Hepatitis is among the major health problems, especially in developing countries. During past decades, the association between type of blood group (ABO) and hepatitis B and C virus has always been discussed. This study was designed to investigate the possible association between type of ABO blood group and chronic hepatitis B and C infection. Methods: In the present analytical stud...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES This study was undertaken to evaluate a community based programme of antenatal screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and selective immunization of children commencing at birth, at a secondary care hospital in south India. The primary objective was to assess immunization coverage among children born to HBsAg positive women; secondary objectives were to study t...

Until recently, the only generally approved treatment for chronic hepatitis B was alpha-interferon; however, it gives only moderate efficacy in terms of sustained response (biochemical, virological and histological). In fact, only 20% to 40% of treated patients respond to therapy, with lower percentages (~ 10%) among patients infected with precore-mutant strains of HBV (HBeAb HBV-DNA positive)....

We aimed to investigate the influence of regulatory T cells including CD4+CD25+, CD8+CD28- and hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype on sustained virological response and tolerance of nucleoside drugs. One hundred and thirty-seven patients were enrolled. Lamivudine was administered to 84 patients. Entecavir was administered to the other 53 patients. Before treatment, biochemical tests, HBV DNA load,...

BACKGROUND In the present study, we aimed to present the initial results of chronic hepatitis B patients who received entecavir (ETV) therapy in our hospital in Izmir, Turkey. METHODS A total of 52 patients were enrolled in the study. ETV was given in a dosage of 0.5 mg/day and 1 mg/day to 50 patients without Lamivudine/Adefovir (LAM/ADV) resistance and to 2 patients with LAM resistance, resp...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of the combined use of traditional Chinese medicine and lamivudine (LMD) in treating chronic hepatitis B patients, and to follow the serological response for six months or longer. METHODS CNKI, Wanfang data, VIP data, CBMdisk, MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database and literature were searched, to include randomized...