Cumulative viral evolutionary changes in chronic hepatitis B virus infection precedes hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion.

Objective: To examine viral evolutionary changes and their relationship to hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion.

Design: A matched case-control study of HBeAg seroconverters (n = 8) and non-seroconverters (n = 7) with adequate stored sera before seroconversion was performed. Nested PCR, cloning and sequencing of hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore/core gene was performed.