Variations in the viral NS5B region in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1b infection. No specific amino acid substitution was identified as determinants of treatment response to interferon/ribavirin combination therapy.

Objective: A recent study suggested that the substitution of amino acid 415 of HCV NS5B from phenylalanine to tyrosine in patients with HCV genotype 1a infection is induced by ribavirin and responsible for resistance to ribavirin therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether specific variations in the HCV NS5B sequence in Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1b (HCV/1b) infection are associated with treatment response or selected by treatment with interferon-alpha/ribavirin combination therapy.

Methods: Eighteen Japanese patients with HCV/1b infection receiving interferon-alpha/ribavirin combination therapy for 24 weeks were studied.

Distribution of HBV genotypes among HBV carriers in Benin:phylogenetic analysis and virological characteristics of HBV genotype E.

Aim: To determine the distribution of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in Benin, and to clarify the virological characteristics of the dominant genotype.

Methods: Among 500 blood donors in Benin, 21 HBsAg-positive donors were enrolled in the study. HBV genotypes were determined by enzyme immunoassay and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Detection of anti-hepatitis C virus effects of interferon and ribavirin by a sensitive replicon system.

Although combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin has improved the treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the detailed anti-HCV effect of ribavirin in clinical concentrations remains uncertain. To detect the anti-HCV effect of ribavirin in lower concentrations, a sensitive and accurate assay system was developed using the reporter replicon system with an HCV genotype 2a subgenomic replicon (clone JFH-1) that exhibits robust replication in various cell lines. This reporter replicon was generated by introducing the luciferase reporter gene (instead of the neomycin resistance gene) into the subgenomic JFH-1 replicon.

HBV/HCV Infection, Alcohol, Tobacco and Genetic Polymorphisms for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Nagoya, Japan.

A population-based case-control study was carried out to investigate risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Nagoya, Japan, including hepatitis virus infections, drinking and smoking habits and genetic polymorphisms in aldehyde dehydrogenase2 (ALDH2) and cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1). A total of 84 patients with HCC and 84 sex, age and residence pair-matched controls were recruited for this study. By univariate analysis, hepatitis B virus (HBV) (OR=5.