Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; analysis ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; analysis ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; virology ; Humans ; Ovary ; virology

Thirty turtles (15 Clemys mutica and 15 Geoclemys reevesii) which were inoculated with human sera those were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg) were found to be infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The levels of HBV infection markers, such as HBsAg and antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBsAg), were retinely monitored in the turtles' serum for 46 weeks. Within two weeks of the inoculation, 42% of the turtles tested were positive for HBsAg, and their reciprocal titers as measured by reverse passive hemagglutination (RPHA) and enzyme linked immunoabsorbance assay (ELISA) ranged from 16 to 96. Within 20 weeks, the remaining turtles tested HBsAg positive, as confirmed by ELISA. At 20 weeks, all but one of the turtles exhibited changes in HBV blood marker from HBsAg to anti-HBs; the one exception was positive for both HBsAg and anti-HBs. At the 47th week, 7 animals were killed and their organs were examined for HBV infected cells utilizing an immunofluorescent technique. Numerous fluorescent cells which reacted with human anti-HBs nad anti-HBc were observed in the following organs: pancreas, liver, kidney, and brain. Histopathologically, edematous changes in hepatocytes and minor cellular infiltration attributed to an inflammatory response were noted. Liver and kidney cells from the infected animals were cultured, and HBV antigen positive cells for HBsAg and HBcAg were detected in the cultures. Throughout the experiment, HBsAg was detected in the supernatant by ELISA. Virus particles which were indistinguishable from Dane particles were seen in the cytoplasmic vacuoles of the cultured cells by electron microscopy. Finally, the presence of HBV DNA was established by molecular hybridization techniques in the culture supernatants of kidney cells from the infected turtles.
Animal ; Hepatitis B/microbiology/transmission/*veterinary ; Hepatitis B Antibodies/isolation and purification ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens/isolation and purification ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/isolation and purification ; Human ; Kidney/microbiology ; Liver/microbiology/pathology ; Turtles/*microbiology

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To investigate whether the hepatitis B virus (HBV) has quasispecies character by studying nucleotide sequence polymorphism and mutation features of HBV PreC/C gene region, and preliminaryly explore the heterogeneity of HBV quasispecies.

<b>METHODSb>The serum sample was obtained from a patient with chronic hepatitis B, and the whole HBV PreC/C gene region was amplified by PCR and cloned. Thirty-four clones that contained HBV PreC/C gene fragments were sequenced.

<b>RESULTSb>There were 28 kinds of different nucleotide sequences in 34 clones, and the nucleotide sequences diversity ranged from 0.2% to 2.1%. The mutation points were almost distributed in the whole region, but there wasn't mutation at PreC region nt.1 896 point in all sequences.

<b>CONCLUSIONb>Hepatitis B virus has complex quasispecies character in the patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Adult ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; virology ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; immunology ; virology ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To explore the relationship between HBV core promoter mutations and liver damage or HBeAg status.

<b>METHODSb>Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used for amplification of HBV DNA core promoter in 59 sera from patients with chronic hepatitis B in Guangxi, then the HBV DNA positive products were sequenced by direct sequencing.

<b>RESULTSb>The HBV DNA positive rate of was 59.3%(35/59). All the patients were infected by mutants. The commonest mutation was the double mutation (A --> T at nt1762 and G --> A at nt1764), counting for 57.1% (20/35). The next was C --> G at nt1799, counting for 54.4% (19/35), but this was no function. A --> G at nt1752 (resulting in isoleucine to valine) was seen in 37.1% (13/35) of the HBV DNA positive patients, and T --> C at nt1753 was seen in 20% (7/35). The significant difference in the frequency of T1762A1764 mutant was found between HBeAg positive patients (31.3%) and negative patients (79.0%).

<b>CONCLUSIONSb>HBV core promoter mutations are common among patients with chronic hepatitis B in Guangxi. T1762A1764 mutant is associated with HBeAg status and chronic hepatitis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; genetics ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Point Mutation ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics

DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; analysis ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver ; virology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; virology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

Biomarkers ; blood ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; genetics ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; biosynthesis ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; immunology ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Vaccination

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of combined treatment with lamivudine and famciclovir on chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

<b>METHODSb>Ninety patients with chronic HBV infection were divided into 3 groups. Group one had 28 patients and was treated with combination of lamivudine (0.1 g/d, PO) and famciclovir (1.5 g/d,PO) for 24 weeks. Group two and three had 30 and 32 cases, respectively, and were treated with lamivudine 100 mg/day PO and famciclovir (1.5 g/d,PO) alone. All the patients had positive markers of HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBcAg in serum assayed by ELISA and of HBV DNA tested by PCR.

<b>RESULTSb>Three strategies of treatment had no different effects on the change of patients' ALT levels. The serum HBV DNA became negative after treatment in 89.3% (25/28) of patients treated with combination of lamivudine and famciclovir, 66.7% (20/30) of patients treated with lamivudine, and 40.6% (13/32) of patients treated with famciclovir. The rate of serum HBeAg loss in 3 groups were 28.6% (8/28), 23.3% (7/30) and 21.9% (7/32), respectively.

<b>CONCLUSIONSb>The combination treatment of lamivudine and famciclovir for chronic HBV infection is safer than and superior to that of either drug alone.

2-Aminopurine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To verify the mechanism of the hepatitis B viral clearance using clinical data.

<b>METHODSb>Viral level and HBV marker in serum were analyzed in 12 patients with acute hepatitis B.

<b>RESULTSb>The clearance of hepatitis B virus occurred before the patients were hospitalized in 66.7% of patients. The viral level and the A value of HBsAg;HBeAg declined gradually during hospitalization.

<b>CONCLUSIONSb>In most of patients with acute hepatitis B in the study, the virus was cleared without destruction of infected cells.

Adult ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; virology ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although the viral load is correlated with HBcAg, liver injury was not correlated to viral load in HBeAg positive patient. We aimed to study the inter-relationship of clinical parameters such as the level of HBV-DNA, the level of aminotransferase, intrahepatic expression of HBcAg and severity of histological liver damage in the young male chronic HBV carriers according to HBeAg status. METHODS: The study group included 85 young male patients (mean age: 19.8) with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis B (HBeAg-positive group: n=60, HBeAg-negative group: n=25). RESUTLS: Serum levels of HBV-DNA and the expression of intrahepatic HBcAg in the HBeAg-positive group were significantly higher than in the HBeAg-negative (p<0.001), but fibrosis score was lower (p<0.01). Serum levels of HBV-DNA positively correlated with lobular activity, portal/periportal activity, biochemical activities in the HBeAg-negative group but negatively correlated in the HBeAg-positive group. There were no significant differences in histological activity according to the pattern of expression of intrahepatic HBcAg in both groups. The lobular activity correlated positively with biochemical activity in both groups, and portal/periportal activity correlated with biochemical activity only in the HBeAg-positive group. CONCLUSIONS: There are close correlations among liver injury, intrahepatic expression of HBcAg, and detectable HBV-DNA in the young male chronic HBV carriers with HBeAg-negativity, but in the HBeAg-positive group, the correlations are diversified.
Adolescent ; Adult ; DNA, Viral/*analysis ; English Abstract ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens/*analysis ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/pathology/*virology ; Humans ; Liver/*pathology/virology ; Male ; Viral Load