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HBV Infections (hbv + infections)
Selected AbstractsIncidence of Sjögren's syndrome in Japanese patients with hepatitis C virus infectionJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 3 2003YUMIKO NAGAO Abstract Background and Aim: Hepatitis viruses induce not only chronic liver diseases but also the impairment of other organs and tissues as extrahepatic manifestations. In particular, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is involved in various extrahepatic manifestations. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and lichen planus (LP) involvement, which are various extrahepatic manifestations in patients with liver diseases related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) or HCV. Methods: We examined a total of 110 Japanese patients with chronic liver disease: 29 with HBV infections and 81 HCV infections. Results: The prevalence of SS according to European and Japanese criteria in patients with chronic HCV infection was significantly higher than in patients with chronic HBV infection (European criteria: 25.9 vs 3.4%; P < 0.05, Japanese criteria: 21.0 vs 3.4%; P = 0.05). Lichen planus was observed in one (3.4%) of 29 patients with chronic HBV infection, and in 11 (13.6%) of 81 patients with chronic HCV infection. Simultaneously combined LP and SS occurred in 8.6% (seven of 81) of patients with HCV infection, but in none with HBV infection. Conclusions: Clinicians should routinely follow the HCV-infected patients, paying sufficient attention to the presence of SS and LP, and they should also carefully monitor their prognosis. [source] Increased detection of HBV DNA in HBsAg-positive and HBsAg-negative South African HIV/AIDS patients enrolling for highly active antiretroviral therapy at a Tertiary HospitalJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 3 2009Azwidowi Lukhwareni Abstract This retrospective study investigated the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 192 stored sera from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive South African patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), and explored the implications of HBV,HIV co-infection on laboratory diagnosis of HBV. HBV serology (HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc) and nested HBV PCR assays targeting the HBV polymerase gene were performed, with HBV DNA positive samples being quantified with Cobas Taqman HBV test 48 assay (Roche Diagnostics). The study found that 63% (121/192) of patients had past or present HBV infection, and 40.6% (78/192) had detectable HBV DNA. Also, 22.9% (44/192) of patients were HBsAg positive and HBV DNA positive, while 23% (34/148) of HBsAG negatives had occult HBV infections. Of the 78 HBV DNA positive samples, 62.8% had viral loads ranging from 102 to ,108 IU/ml, and 37.2% had HBV viral loads <200 IU/ml. There was a statistically significant positive association between HBsAg-positivity and high viral loads, with 27% (12/44) of HBsAg positives having HBV viral loads between 104 and ,108 IU/ml, compared to only 5.9% (2/34) of HBsAg negatives (relative risk: 4.64; 95% confidence interval: 1.11, 19.35; chi-square P -value,=,0.015). The study shows that the majority of HIV/AIDS patients initiating ART have either acute or chronic HBV infections, and further confirms that HIV remains a risk factor for occult HBV infections in South African patients as previously shown. The findings strongly support HBV screening in all HIV-positive patients initiating ART in South Africa, considering that current ART regimens include drugs with anti-HBV activity (e.g., lamivudine). J. Med. Virol. 81:406,412, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Analysis of hepatitis B virus quasispecies distribution in a Korean chronic patient based on the full genome sequences,JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 3 2007Hong Kim Abstract Although Korea is a hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemic area, relatively few full-length genome sequences are available. In particular, no comparative analysis has been performed on the full-genome sequences of different HBV quasispecies from a single Korean patient. This report describes the full-length sequences of five HBV clones (two clones with shorter PCR amplicons and three clones with longer amplicons). Large deletions, that is, 685-bp, 487-bp, and 144-bp, that might interfere with the production of normal proteins were observed in four of five clones. Double mutations in the basal core promoter (BCP) region (T1762/A1764) were detected in two clones but no precore mutations (A1896) were detected in any of the five clones. These data support previous results that genotype C, in particular Korean clones of this genotype, is prone to mutations. Two independent mechanisms, namely, the deletions of long lengths and amino acid substitutions followed by BCP double mutations might contribute to the diversity of HBV quasispecies. Considering the importance of HBV quasispecies as HBV variant sources, the distribution of HBV quasispecies in mutation prone genotype C prevalent areas like Korea, should be monitored to improve the management of chronic HBV infections and to control HBV variants that arise due to the administration of vaccine or antiviral therapy. J. Med. Virol. 79:212,219, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Molecular and serological aspects of HBsAg-negative hepatitis B virus infections in North AmericaJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 1 2003C.C. Hsia Abstract A few hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are characterized by the presence of HBV DNA in serum or liver tissue, or both, in the absence of detectable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in serum. However, such infections have rarely been described previously in North American patients. In the present study, 31 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients from the United States and Canada who had no detectable HBsAg in their serum were studied. In these 31 HBsAg-negative HCC patients, HBV DNA was detected in HCC and/or in adjacent nontumorous liver tissue using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 5/9 (56%) patients from the United States and in 12/22 (55%) from Canada. The 17 HBV DNA-positive/HBsAg-negative patients from the United States and Canada included 9 without any serological markers for HBV and 8 with detectable antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen. In these patients, HBV genotype C was the most prevalent genotype (11/17; 64%). HBV genotypes have not been previously reported in HCC patients from North America. Replicative intermediate forms of HBV (covalently closed circular HBV DNA) were detected in 2/17 (12%) HBV DNA-positive/HBsAg-negative patients, indicating that at least two of these patients had actively replicating HBV infections. The use of tests to detect HBV DNA permitted the identification of HBV infections in HBsAg-negative HCC patients from North America. Among these patients, those with antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV) would otherwise have been designated "HCV-associated HCCs" based on serological tests alone. These findings provide a new perspective on determining the possible viral etiologies of HCCs in North America. J. Med. Virol. 70: 20,26, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] An outbreak of HBV and HCV infection in a paediatric oncology ward: Epidemiological investigations and prevention of further spreadJOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 3 2003Uga Dumpis Abstract Hospital-acquired hepatitis B (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infections continue to occur despite increased awareness of this problem among the medical community. One hundred six patients were infected in a haematology oncology ward for children, over the time period 1996 to 2000. Serum samples from 45 such patients and 3 from infected medical personnel were used for nucleic acid amplification. HBV core, as well as HCV core and hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) nucleotide sequences, were analysed by phylogenetic tree analysis, in order to characterise the epidemiological pattern of viral transmission on the ward. Samples from 32 patients were positive for HBV-DNA or HCV-RNA by PCR. Ten patients were positive for both markers. Seventeen out of twenty-three HCV core gene sequences were found to be evolutionarily related and clustered separately from other local sequences in the phylogenetic tree, indicating nosocomial transmission. This was confirmed by analysis of HVR1 gene sequences. One nurse and one physician from the ward were HCV RNA positive, but their HCV sequences were not related evolutionarily to those of the patient cluster. Fifteen out of nineteen HBV core gene sequences were also clustered together and were positioned separately in the relevant tree. Epidemiological investigation excluded a common source infection and indicated that spread of infection was most likely due to inappropriate infection control measures on the ward. No obvious risk factors for transmission were identified during the retrospective survey in patients with related sequences, except use of multidose vials for saline and poor staff compliance with routine hand hygiene procedures. The preventive measures that were introduced reduced the incidence of infection significantly. No new cases of HBV infection and only three anti-HCV seroconversions occurred over a period of 19 months. The introduction and maintenance of strict prevention measures over a 2 year period, combined with HBV vaccination, reduced significantly the incidence of new HCV and HBV infections. J. Med. Virol. 69:331,338, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Targeted destruction of the polymerized human serum albumin binding site within the preS2 region of the HBV surface antigen while retaining full immunogenicity for this epitopeJOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, Issue 1 2003J.-H. Park summary. The 55-amino acid (a.a.) preS2 region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope protein is highly immunogenic, and antibodies against this epitope confer seroprotection against HBV infections. Accordingly, various experimental and clinical studies for developing and evaluating HBV vaccines that include this particular epitope have been reported. However, a pitfall in using preS2 epitopes as part of a vaccinating antigen is that polymerized human serum albumin (pHSA), which is a normal constituent of the human serum, binds to and makes complexes with this particular region. Consequently, it is most likely that the antigen epitope is masked by serum pHSA and subsequently not detected by the immune system. To overcome these limitations, a novel single a.a substitute of the preS2 region was designed that corresponds to a tyrosine to serine exchange at position 140 of preS2. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that this substitution completely abolishes pHSA-binding activities in the mutated preS2 peptide, and CD spectra analysis revealed that this property might have been induced by slight conformational changes in its secondary structure. Nevertheless, the original B-cell epitope was still preserved in the mutated preS2 as determined by experimental immunization in mice. In this regard, the preS2(120,145/Y140S) sequence may be an HBV vaccine where epitopes, with intrinsic properties have been deleted without affecting the immunogenicity of the epitope itself. It is expected that the inclusion of this point mutated preS2 epitope will improve the efficacy of conventional preS2-containing HBV vaccines. [source] | ||||||||||