Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection: The Relation between Hepatitis B Antigen Expression, Telomere Length, Senescence, Inflammation and Fibrosis.

Background: Chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can lead to the development of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. We hypothesized that HBV might accelerate hepatocyte ageing and investigated the effect of HBV on hepatocyte cell cycle state and biological age. We also investigated the relation between inflammation, fibrosis and cell cycle phase.