Combined branched-DNA and conventional HBV PCR assays for detection of serum HBV-DNA in hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients.

Background/aims: Monitoring of HBV replication level is very useful for the management of patients with chronic HBV. However, the use of the correct tools to quantify HBV-DNA levels in serum and monitor the replication of HBV is of paramount importance in terms of diagnosis, and antiviral treatment of patients with chronic HBV infection. The aim of this study was to combine the bDNA assay and HBV PCR to improve detection of viremia the patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B infection.

Prevalence and genotypes of hepatitis G virus among hemodialysis patients in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey.

Objectives: To study the prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis G virus (HGV) in hemodialysis patients in East Anatolia, Turkey.

Subjects And Materials: Eighty-nine hemodialysis patients and 30 healthy individuals were analyzed by using reverse-transcriptase nested polymerase chain reaction with primers specific for 5' untranslated region. HGV genotyping was performed by PCR and three randomly selected HGV-positive samples were sequenced.