Search results for " hepatitis B"

HBV DNA suppression and HBsAg clearance in HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B patients on lamivudine therapy for over 5 years

2012

Background & Aims In long-term responder patients, it is unclear whether lamivudine (LAM) monotherapy should be continued or switched to a high-genetic-barrier analogue. This study aims at assessing LAM efficacy over a 5-year period and the residual risk of drug resistance. The rate of HBsAg clearance and LAM long-term safety profile were also evaluated. Methods One hundred and ninety-one patients with chronic HBeAg-negative hepatitis B successfully treated with LAM monotherapy for at least 5years were included. Biochemical and virological tests were assessed every 3months in all patients and HBsAg quantification was performed in 45/191. Reverse-transcriptase (RT) region was directly sequen…

Virological profiles in patients with chronic hepatitis C and overt or occult HBV infection

2002

Abstract OBJECTIVES: The virological profiles of hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) and their interplay in cases of coinfection are undefined. A suppressed and occult HBV infection may occur in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative patients with chronic hepatitis C. The HCV core protein is able to inhibit HBV “in vitro,” and serines at positions 99 and 116 are essential for such inhibition. We aimed to assess the HBV and HCV virological profiles in cases of coinfection and to evaluate the relationship between HCV core gene variability and HBV activity. METHODS: Eighty-two anti-HCV positive patients were examined: 35 cases were HBsAg positive, 24 were HBsAg negative with “occult”…

Impact of HBV genotypes A and D genetic variability on infection evolution

2015

HBV is characterized by a high genetic variability, which is the basis of its classification into eight genotypes (A-H). HBV infection is associated with different outcomes, from self-limiting acute hepatitis to active chronic hepatitis, asymptomatic carriage, and occult infection. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic variability of HBV genotypes A and D isolates from 79 cases of self-limiting acute hepatitis and chronic hepatitis, in order to identify HBV variants associated with resolution or chronicity of acute HBV infection. The entire preS-S sequence and a fragment of 346 bp of the preC-C region, containing Enhancer II and Basal Core Promoter sequences, were analyzed. A phy…

Variability of reverse transcriptase and overlapping S gene in hepatitis B virus isolates from untreated and lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B…

2009

Background The high degree of diversity of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) quasispecies in chronically infected individuals raises the possibility that HBV genetic variants favouring resistance to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NAs) might pre-exist to treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic variability of the entire HBV reverse transcriptase (RT) domain and of the overlapping S gene in a large series of untreated hepatitis B surface antigen carriers and in lamivudine (3TC)-resistant patients. Methods Sequencing analysis of the entire HBV RT domain of isolates from 100 untreated (treatment- naive group) and 59 3TC-resistant (3TC-resistant group) consecutive patients wit…

Clinical outcome of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B in relation to virological response to lamivudine.

2004

The effect of lamivudine treatment on the outcome of patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis is unclear. In a retrospective multicenter study, we have analyzed the virological events observed during lamivudine therapy in patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis and evaluated the correlation between virological response and clinical outcomes. Among 656 patients (mean age 49.1 years) included in the database, 54% had chronic hepatitis, 30% had Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) A cirrhosis, and 16% had CTP B/C cirrhosis. On therapy (median 22 months, range 1–66), a virological response was obtained in 616 patients (93.9%). The rate of maintained virological respons…

Anti-hepatitis A virus seroprevalence and seroconversion in a cohort of patients with chronic viral hepatitis

2002

Abstract Background. Patients with chronic hepatitis C infected by hepatitis A virus have a substantial risk of fulminant hepatitis or death, while the course of hepatitis A virus is uncomplicated in most subjects with chronic hepatitis B. Aim. To evaluate the prevalence of anti-hepatitis A virus antibodies and the incidence of hepatitis A virus seroconversion in a nationwide sample of 530 patients with chronic hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C infection initially susceptible to this infection after a follow-up of some years. Results. The overall anti-hepatitis A virus prevalence was 85.7%, with no difference between males and females. By the age of 50 years, almost all patients were found to …

An evaluation of transient elastography in the discrimination of HBeAg-negative disease from inactive hepatitis B carriers

2009

Summary.  Liver biopsy is frequently required in HBeAg-negative disease to determine the stage of fibrosis. It can be difficult to distinguish cohorts with undetectable HBeAg who may have varying degrees of fibrosis due to different stages of disease. We have assessed the utility of transient elastography (TE) to evaluate differences in HBeAg-negative patients. A total of 220 HBsAg-positive individuals were studied: 125 (group 1) had an inactive HBsAg carrier state and 95 (group 2) were HBeAg-negative, anti-HBe-positive patients with persistently or intermittent elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or HBV DNA >105 copies/mL. Mean stiffness was 4.83 ± 1.2 kPa in group 1 vs 8.53 ± …

Gender differences in chronic liver diseases in two cohorts of 2001 and 2014 in Italy

2017

Background: Gender differences in chronic liver disease (CLD) have been partially investigated. To extend the present knowledge, we evaluated 12,263 patients with CLD enrolled in two national surveys (9997 in 2001 and 2557 in 2014). Methods: The two surveys prospectively recruited patients aged ≥ 18 referring to Italian liver units throughout the country using a similar clinical approach and analytical methods. Results: The overall male to female ratio (M/F) was 1.4 (7138/5124). Compared with females, males were significantly more likely to be younger (52.9 vs. 58.7 yrs.), with HBV infection alone (13.2% vs. 9.2%) and with alcoholic liver disease alone (11.4% vs. 6.9%), but less likely t…

A randomized trial of peginterferon alpha-2a with or without ribavirin for HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B

2010

Duck Hepatitis B Virus Requires Cholesterol for Endosomal Escape during Virus Entry

2008

ABSTRACT The identity and functionality of biological membranes are determined by cooperative interaction between their lipid and protein constituents. Cholesterol is an important structural lipid that modulates fluidity of biological membranes favoring the formation of detergent-resistant microdomains. In the present study, we evaluated the functional role of cholesterol and lipid rafts for entry of hepatitis B viruses into hepatocytes. We show that the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) attaches predominantly to detergent-soluble domains on the plasma membrane. Cholesterol depletion from host membranes and thus disruption of rafts does not affect DHBV infection. In contrast, depletion of chole…