OBJECTIVE: To compare several noninvasive indices of fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis B, including liver shear-wave velocity (SWV), hyaluronic acid (HA), collagen type IV (CIV), procollagen type III (PCIII), and laminin (LN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) was performed in 157 patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and in 30 healthy volunteers to measure hepatic SWV (m/s) in a prospective study. Serum markers were acquired on the morning of the same day of the ARFI evaluation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate and compare the accuracies of SWV and serum markers using METAVIR scoring from liver biopsy as a reference standard. RESULTS: The most accurate test for diagnosing fibrosis F ≥ 1 was SWV with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.913, followed by LN (0.744), HA (0.701), CIV (0.690), and PCIII (0.524). The best test for diagnosing F ≥ 2 was SWV (AUC of 0.851), followed by CIV (0.671), HA (0.668), LN (0.562), and PCIII (0.550). The best test for diagnosing F ≥ 3 was SWV (0.854), followed by CIV (0.693), HA (0.675), PCIII (0.591), and LN (0.548). The best test for diagnosing F = 4 was SWV (0.965), followed by CIV (0.804), PCIII (0.752), HA (0.744), and LN (0.662). SWV combined with HA and CIV did not improve diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.931 for F ≥ 1, 0.863 for F ≥ 2, 0.855 for F ≥ 3, 0.960 for F = 4). CONCLUSION: The performance of SWV in diagnosing liver fibrosis is superior to that of serum markers. However, the combination of SWV, HA, and CIV does not increase the accuracy of diagnosing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.
Acoustics ; Biological Markers ; Biopsy ; Collagen Type III ; Collagen Type IV ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Fibrosis* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; Laminin ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver* ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve

Objective:To explore the influencing factors of BCP region A1762T/G1764A and Pre-C region G1896A mutations in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus（HBV）infection.Methods:Clinical data of 464 patients with chronic HBV infection admitted to Ningbo No.2 Hospital from October 2010 to August 2022 was retrospectively analyzed. The mutations in the BCP region A1762T/G1764A and the pre-C region G1896A were examined in all patients. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of these mutations.Results:The mutation rate of A1762T/G1764A and G1896A was 62.1%（288/464）and 32.8%（152/464）；and the co-mutation rate of A1762T/G1764A and G1896A was 20.9%（97/464）. The mutation rate of A1762T/G1764A and the co-mutation rate of A1762T/G1764A and G1896A in patients with end-stage liver disease were higher than those in patients with chronic hepatitis B（ χ2=9.285 and 6.748，both P<0.05）. Univariate analysis showed that A1762T/G1764A mutation was associated with higher age，serum AST levels，and proportion of genotype C（ P<0.05 or <0.01）；while G1896A mutation was associated with higher age，proportion of negative HBeAg，and serum GGT levels（ P<0.05 or <0.01）. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that higher age was an independent influencing factor for A1762T/G1764A mutation（ OR=1.035，95% CI 1.017-1.054， P<0.001），while HBeAg status was an independent influencing factor for G1896A mutation（ OR=0.171，95% CI 0.112-0.261， P<0.001）. Conclusion:Chronic HBV infection patients with higher age is likely to have A1762T/G1764A mutation，while those with negative HBeAg is more likely to have G1896A mutation.

Objective To analyze the heterogeneities of hepatitis B virus ( HBV ) reverse transcriptase domain (RT) gene mutations related to nucleos (t)ide analogues (NAs) resistance.Methods Blood samples from 2765 chronic hepatitis B patients with virological breakthrough or poor drug response treated in Ningbo No .2 Hospital and Ningbo Fourth Hospital from April 2011 to March 2018 were collected . According to the medication status , it was divided into LAM monotherapy group ( n =603 ) , LdT monotherapy group (n=147), ADV monotherapy group (n=68), ETV monotherapy group (n=10) and the sequential or combined drug resistance of NAs group (n=365).The resistance mutation sites and drug resistance patterns (pathways) of each group were analyzed .The SPSS 19.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results Among 2765 serum samples, the NAs-related HBV-RT resistance mutations were detected in 1193 cases with an overall mutation rate of 43.15％.The mutation rate of LAM monoclonal resistance group was 62.62％ (603/963) with 19 mutation types, the most common single point mutation was rtM204I/V (40.30％, 243/603).The mutation rate of LdT monoclonal resistance group was 45.51％(147/323), and there were 3 mutation types, with the single point mutation rtM204I/V being the most common (59.86％, 88/147).The mutation rate of the ADV monoclonal resistance group was 17.80％(68/382), mainly rtA181T single point mutation (64.71％, 44/68).The mutation rate of the ETV monoclonal resistance group was 4.06％(10/246), and the single point mutation of rtT184A/G/S/I/L/F was the most common one (80.00％, 8/10).The mutation rate of the sequential or combination therapy group was 41.91％ (365/871), among which the mutation rate of the LAM/LdT poor response or the resistance with the sequential ADV group was 63.39％(142/224), and the most single mutation point was rtA181V/T ( 35.21％, 50/142 );the mutation rate of LAM/LdT poor response or drug-resistant with combined ADV group was 42.19％ (54/128), and the most common mutation point was rtA181V/T (46.30％, 25/54);the mutation rate of LAM/LdT with poor response or resistance after sequential ETV 1.0 mg was 44.66％(117/262), and the most common mutation point was rtL180M+M204I/V+S202G/I (31.62％, 37/117);the LAM/LdT poor response or the drug-resistant ETV combined with ADV group had a mutation rate of 7.14％(5/70), all of which were multi-site mutations;the mutation rate of poor response to ADV or resistant with sequential ETV 0.5 mg group was 28.14％(47/167), all of which were multi-site mutations.Secondary ( compensation ) sites such as rtV173L, rtL180M, and rtV214A, and single-point mutations such as rtV207I/L/G, rtS213Tand rtN238T, which were not fully defined , were detected.The resistance patterns ( pathways ) of NAs monotherapy were relatively simple , and the resistance patterns ( pathways ) of NAs experienced patients ( sequential or combined treatment group ) were complex and diverse, and multiple resistance patterns (pathways) existed, along with NAs increasing in species.Non-first-line NAs-related resistance patterns ( pathways ) showed an overall downward trend sand ETV-related drug-resistant mutation showed an overall upward trend .Conclusion The NAs-related HBV resistance mutation sites ( patterns ) are complex and diverse , especially multi-site mutations , refractory drug resistance mutations, multidrug resistance mutations and cross-resistance mutations.Therefore, the optimization of antiviral treatment strategies and drug resistance management concepts need to be continuously updated .

Objective:To analyze the liver pathology, clinical characteristics and influence factors in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in immune tolerant phase (IT).Methods:The clinical data of 273 patients in IT phase who underwent liver biopsy from January 2015 to December 2019 were included in this study. The correlation between liver pathological changes and clinical features was analyzed.Results:There were 43 cases (15.75%) with liver histologic activity ≥ G2, 30 cases (10.99%) with liver fibrosis ≥ S2, and 55 cases (20.15%) with liver pathology ≥ G2 and/or ≥ S2. A total of 17.95% patients had liver steatosis. The majority (98.17%) of tissue samples were positive for HBsAg staining, while only 79.49% were positive for HBcAg. The characteristics of liver pathology were comparable in men from women patients. The differences of G and S were not statistically significant according to different HBsAg positivity, while those were statistically significant according to different HBcAg positivity. By univariate and multivariate analysis, the independent risk factors of pathological severity were HBcAg intensity, HBeAg level, and age. However, the differences of liver histologic activity and fibrosis were not statistically significant between those younger than 30 years old group from those older than 30 years old, neither between those younger or older than 40. Although the diagnostic value of liver inflammation and fibrosis 5 (LIF-5) was better than that of aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis 4 score (FIB-4), three diagnostic models for predicting the pathological severity were not strong enough (all area under the curves<0.8). Only the specificity of LIF-5 for predicting≥ G2, ≥ G2 and/or ≥ S2 was over 80%.Conclusions:Approximately 20% patients with chronic HBV infection in IT phase have progressive liver inflammation or fibrosis. The intensity of liver HBcAg and HBeAg level are negatively correlated with the severity of disease. The diagnostic models or most clinical indicators have low predictive effect for chronic HBV infections in IT phase.