HBV infection in Belgium: results of the BASL observatory of 1,456 HBsAg carriers.

Introduction: Nationwide studies are mandatory to assess changes in the epidemiology of HBV infection in Europe.

Aim: To describe epidemiological characteristics of HBsAg-positive patients, especially inactive carriers, and to evaluate how practitioners manage HBV patients in real life.

Methods: Belgian physicians were asked to report all chronically infected HBV patients during a one-year period.

Abnormal methylation capacity in human liver cirrhosis.

To investigate the influence of liver cirrhosis on the capacity of methylation, the urinary excretion of the methylated forms of arsenic was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry after the administration of a small dose of inorganic arsenic. The study was carried out in 13 normal controls, 18 patients with various clinical conditions, but without evidence of parenchymal liver disease, and 38 with cirrhosis of varied aetiology and severity. In normal controls, the percentage of arsenic excreted as monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) averaged 12.