Prevalence, characteristics, and virologic correlations of hepatitis delta (D) among patients with hepatitis B surface antigen in Mongolia.

Clinical and biochemical features of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infections in Mongolia remain largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of HDV patients in Mongolia using several markers. The 143 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients were divided into 122 HDV-positive and 21 HDV-negative patients by HDV RNA positivity.

Hepatitis B virus RNA is measurable in serum and can be a new marker for monitoring lamivudine therapy.

Background: Changes in the serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA level during lamivudine therapy were compared to those in the serum HBV DNA and HBV core-related antigen (HBVcrAg) levels in 24 patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Methods: For measurement of HBV RNA, total nucleic acid was extracted from serum samples and treated with RNase-free DNase I. After cDNA synthesis from extracted RNA, HBV RNA was measured by real-time detection polymerase chain reaction.

Fulminant hepatitis after allogenic bone marrow transplantation caused by reactivation of hepatitis B virus with gene mutations in the core promotor region.

Under immunosuppressive conditions after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), even if hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigen is negative but hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) or hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) is presented, HBV reactivates and sometimes causes fulminant hepatitis. However, it remains unclear which patients will develop fulminant hepatitis, or whether fulminant hepatitis is caused by host-related factors or by virus-related factors. A 30-yr-old man with a history of aplastic anemia since 3 yr of age underwent allogenic BMT, when HBsAb and HBcAb were positive but HBs antigen (HBsAg) was negative.

Patients with and without loss of hepatitis B virus DNA after hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion have different virological characteristics.

The characteristic differences between patients with and without loss of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA after achieving hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion were analyzed by comparing changes in HBV DNA and HBV core-related antigen levels during a period from 3 years before to 3 years after the seroconversion. Of the 24 seroconverters, 6 (inactive replication group) showed continuous loss of HBV DNA in serum after the seroconversion and the remaining 18 did not lose HBV DNA (active replication group). The HBV DNA level was similar between the two groups, while the HBV core-related antigen level was significantly lower in the active replication group than in the inactive replication group before the seroconversion.

Hepatitis B virus core and core-related antigen quantitation in Chinese patients with chronic genotype B and C hepatitis B virus infection.

Background And Aims: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core-related antigen (HBcrAg) and HBV core antigen (HBcAg) assays were developed for the measurement of serum HBV load. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical utility of these assays in Chinese patients with chronic genotype B and C HBV infection.

Methods: One hundred and ninety-three chronic hepatitis B patients were enrolled.