<b>OBJECTIVEb>To investigate the expression level of IL-32 in serum and its correlation with serum biochemical indices of liver function test and HBV DNA load in patients with HBV-related liver failure.

<b>METHODSb>Fifty-five patients with HBV-related liver failure (severe hepatitis group) and twenty normal cases (control group) were enrolled in the study. Total RNA in PBMCs was extracted by using TRIzol. IL-32 mRNA level was assayed by using Real-time PCR. IL-32 protein level in serum was detected by ELSIA method. The correlation between IL-32 and ALT, AST, TBIL, HBV DNA load was analyzed using pearson's correlation analysis, respectively.

<b>RESULTSb>Serum IL-32 expression level in severe hepatitis group was higher than that of control group. Moreover, the difference between them was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Serum IL-32 level was positively correlated with serum ALT, AST, TBIL, respectively (P < 0.05), but was not correlated with HBV DNA load (P > 0.05).

<b>CONCLUSIONb>Serum IL-32 expression level was increased in patients with HBV-related liver failure and was associated with the severity of inflammation. We, therefore, believe that IL-32 might be involved in the pathogenesis of HBV-related liver failure.

Adult ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; enzymology ; genetics ; virology ; Humans ; Interleukins ; blood ; genetics ; Liver Failure ; blood ; enzymology ; genetics ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Viral Load ; Young Adult

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To investigate the prevalence of fatty liver in Guangzhou and its relation to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, hyperlipidemia and abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

<b>METHODSb>A retrospective analysis was made on clinical data of 4365 participants who received health check-up in our hospital.

<b>RESULTSb>The prevalence of fatty liver was 18.2%, 19.2% in males and 17.1% in females, respectively. There was no significant difference between males and females (P = 0.07). Among 793 subjects with fatty liver, 440 were males and 353 were females. The prevalence of fatty liver was 16.7% in HBV infection group and 18.3% in the group without HBV infection, no significant difference was seen between these two groups (P = 0.45). The prevalence of fatty liver was 42.1% in hyperlipidemia group, and 11.6% in the group with normal serum triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC), respectively, there was a significant difference between these two groups (P < 0.05). The abnormal ALT was seen in 32.5% of the fattty liver group, which was significantly higher than that (8.6%) in the group without fatty liver (P < 0.05).

<b>CONCLUSIONSb>The prevalence of fatty liver was not significantly different between males and females in Guangzhou. Fatty liver was not related with HBV infection but closely related with age and hyperlipidemia. Fatty liver was a common cause of abnormal ALT.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Fatty Liver ; blood ; enzymology ; epidemiology ; virology ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; virology ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Continuation of lamivudine therapy is controversial for patients with chronic hepatitis B when viral breakthrough occurs. Moreover, the effect of continuous lamivudine therapy is unknown in patients with acute exacerbation after viral breakthrough. We assessed clinical course of acute exacerbation after viral breakthrough in patients who continued and discontinued lamivudine therapy. METHODS: Medical records of 109 patients with viral breakthrough during lamivudine therapy were reviewed. Of 40 patients with acute exacerbation (ALT level > 5 x ULN), adefovir dipivoxil was unavailable in 38 patients. These 38 patients (mean age 42.6 years; male/female, 34/6) were divided into continuation (n=21) and discontinuation (n=17) groups. Clinical courses of the 2 groups were compared. RESULTS: During follow-up period (mean, 27 months; range, 6-60 months), ALT levels decreased to < 2 x ULN in 11 patients (52%) of continuation group and 9 patients (53%) of discontinuation group, varied from 2 x to 5 x ULN in 9 (43%) and 5 (29%), respectively, and increased to > 5 x ULN in 1 (5%) and 3 (18%), respectively, with no statistical significance (P=.417). CONCLUSIONS: When acute exacerbation of ALT levels occurs after viral breakthrough during lamivudine administration in patients with compensated chronic hepatitis B, continuation of lamivudine may have no advantage over discontinuation.
Phosphonic Acids/therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Lamivudine/*administration & dosage ; Humans ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/drug therapy/enzymology/*virology ; Hepatitis B virus/*isolation & purification ; Female ; Antiviral Agents/*administration & dosage ; Alanine Transaminase/blood ; Aged ; Adult ; Adenine/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Acute Disease

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To screen and clone the genes of protein interacting with the N-terminal protein (TP) of hepatitis B virus DNA polymerase.

<b>METHODSb>TP was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and TP bait plasmid was constructed by using yeast two-hybrid system 3, then transformed into yeast AH 109. The transformed yeast was mated with yeast Y187 containing liver cDNA library plasmid in 2 x YPDA medium. Diploid yeast was plated on synthetic dropout medium (SD/-Trp-Leu-His-Ade) and that containing X-alpha-GAL for selecting two times and screening. Plasmids were extracted from blue colonies, and sequence analysis was performed by bioinformatics.

<b>RESULTSb>Forty-seven clones were obtained, these clones included human P36956 sterol regulatory element binding protein-1, RNA polymerase II subunit hsRPB7 mRNA, asialoglycoprotein receptor 2, transcript variant 3, ceruloplasmin (ferroxidase), transmembrane 4 superfamily member 2 and 19 of the hypothetical proteins and so on.

<b>CONCLUSIONb>Genes encoding TP interacting proteins in hepatocytes were successfully cloned and the results suggest that TP has a wide variety of biological functions.

Cloning, Molecular ; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Library ; Hepatitis B virus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Humans ; Liver ; metabolism ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Protein Binding ; Receptors, Virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Transformation, Genetic ; Two-Hybrid System Techniques ; Viral Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

BACKGROUND: Most mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) are related to resistance to antiviral agents. Cross-sectional studies on the mutations of this gene are rare. Thus, we analyzed the mutation patterns of RT genes and their biochemical parameters. METHODS: From 2009 to 2012, 301 blood specimens from patients with chronic hepatitis B at Daegu Catholic University Medical Center were retrospectively analyzed for the RT gene sequence of HBV, ALT, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), and HBV DNA. The mutation patterns of the RT gene were compared with the biochemical parameters. RESULTS: Of the 301 patients, 100 (33.2%) had no RT gene mutations. The remaining showed the following mutation patterns: rtM204I/V (50.2%), rtL180M (39.2%), and rtA181T/V (19.6%). Combined mutations were found in 146 cases (48.5%). Of these, the combination of amino acid changes at rt180+rt204 (49.3%) was most frequently detected, followed by rt181+rt236 (11.0%) and rt173+rt180+rt204 (9.6%). In the mutated group, HBV DNA and HBeAg positive rates were significantly higher (P<0.05 for both). Phenotypic analysis showed that lamivudine resistance was most frequently detected (34.6%), followed by adefovir resistance (15.6%). Multidrug resistance was detected in 48 cases (15.9%). The adefovir-resistant group had a higher proportion of cases with HBV loads greater than 2,000 IU/mL. CONCLUSIONS: We found correlations between the mutation status of the RT domain and biochemical parameters such as HBV DNA and HBeAg positive rate. The presence of RT gene mutations could therefore be utilized to predict clinical status.
Adenine/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Viral ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; Hepatitis B e Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B virus/*enzymology/isolation & purification ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/drug therapy ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Lamivudine/therapeutic use ; Mutation ; Organophosphonates/therapeutic use ; Phenotype ; RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase/*genetics ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To explore relationship between effect of Lamivudine in the treatment of cirrhotic patients with uncompensated hepatitis B with hepatitis B virus (HBV)genotypes and HBV specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL).

<b>METHODSb>80 cases of uncompensated cirrhotic hepatitis B (40 cases with genotype B and 40 with genotype C), HBV DNA positive, HBeAg positive and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 positive,were treated with Lamivudine 100 mg/d, one year later, its effect and relationship with HBV genotypes and HBV specific CTL were observed.

<b>RESULTSb>HBV DNA turned negative:40 cases with genotype B turned negative (100%). In the 9th and 10th month of treatment, there was one case with genotype C had YMDD variation respectively and Adefovir dipivoxil was used for treatment, of the rest 38 cases, HBV DNA of 26 cases (68.42%) turned negative,HBV DNA negative rate of patients with genotype is lower than that of patients with genotype B, chi2 = 14.91, P < 0.01. HBeAg turned negative: 18 cases with genotype B (45%) turned negative, more than that of patients with genotype C (7 cases, 18.42%), chi2 = 6.32, P < 0.05. Peripheral blood HBV specific CTL level: before treatment, it was (0.33 +/- 0.03)% of patients with genotype B,higher than that of patients with genotype C [(0.11 +/- 0.02)%], t = 8.12, P < 0.001. 1 year after treatment: it was (0.44 +/- 0.04)% of patients with genotype B, higher than that before treatment, t = 4.01, P < 0.001, it was also higher than that of patients with genotype C 1 year after treatment [(0.23 +/- 0.03)%], t = 5.63, P < 0.01, alanine amino-transferase (ALT) returned to normal: 38 cases with genotype B (95%) returned to normal, more than that of patients with genotype C (28 cases, 73.68%), X2 = 6.79, P < 0.01.

<b>CONCLUSIONb>Effect of Lamivudinein the treatment of cirrhotic patients with uncompensated hepatitis B is better in patients with genotype B than patients with genotype C, its mechanism may be related to lower level of HBV specific CTL in patients with genotype C than patients with genotype B.

Adult ; Aged ; Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; immunology ; virology ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; therapeutic use ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; immunology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology

<b>OBJECTIVEb>To investigate the distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in Qingdao, and the relationship of HBV genotypes with the serum HBV-DNA levels and HBV YMDD spontaneous mutation of patients, then to discuss the clinical significance.

<b>METHODSb>Hepatitis B virus genotypes and YMDD spontaneous mutation of 144 patients were detected by real time PCR (Taqman probe), then the results were analyzed by statistical method.

<b>RESULTSb>Of the 144 patients, 130 (90.3%) were genotype C, 12 (8.3%) were genotype B, and 2 (1.4%) were neither genotype B nor genotype C; 33 (22.9%) were detected to have YMDD mutation, and 25 (75.5%) were YVDD positive, 3 (9.1%) were YIDD positive, 5 (15.2%) were YVDD and YIDD positive. There were no significant differences between clinical diagnosis, serum HBV-DNA levels, YMDD spontaneous mutation and HBV genotypes (P > 0.05).

<b>CONCLUSIONb>Genotype C is the dominant position for HBV genotype in Qingdao. Untreated patients with chronic hepatitis B have YMDD spontaneous mutation. HBV genotypes have no association with YMDD spontaneous mutation and the development of diseases.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B virus ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Viral Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Young Adult