HDV is a defective RNA pathogen requiring the simultaneous presence of HBV to complete its life cycle. Two major specific patterns of infection have been described: the coinfection with HDV and HBV of a susceptible, anti-HBs-negative individual, or the HDV superinfection of a chronic HBV carrier. Coinfection mostly leads to the eradication of both agents, whereas the majority of patients with H...

conclusions the mir-155 appeared to be suppressed during hbv infection. the significantly higher mir-155 levels in alt-elevated patients infected with hbv suggest that mir-155 levels in pbmcs correlate with the immune state of patients with chronic hbv infection. results in the hbv-infected patients, the mir-155 levels were significantly lower than in the healthy controls (p = 0.001). chronic h...

Initiation of reverse transcription and nucleocapsid assembly in hepatitis B virus (HBV) depends on the specific recognition of an RNA signal (the packaging signal, ) on the pregenomic RNA by the viral reverse transcriptase (RT). Using an in vitro reconstitution system whereby the cellular heat shock protein 90 chaperone system activates recombinant HBV RT for specific binding, we have defined ...

A subadditive effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is possible because superinfection of one virus tends to inhibit infection of the other virus. However, studies have reported inconsistent findings, and two meta-analyses of studies from various countries (1998) and China (2005) reported a supraadditive effect for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk. Thus, w...

result, it has a much higher error rate than DNA viral transcriptases, as it replicates through a RNA intermediate. HBV DNA is thus often present in quasi-species in an individual. One or more species may be favourably selected by factors such as host immune clearance and use of antiviral drugs.1 HBV variation plays an important role in HBV genotypes and drug-resistant mutations. It is clinical...

The manner by which the trans-acting factor encoded by the 1,828-base-pair (bp) BamHI DNA fragment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) suppresses the production of human beta interferon was determined. Steady-state levels of RNA specific for human beta interferon were decreased in cells that contained the 1,828-bp BamHI DNA fragment of HBV. The reduced accumulation of interferon-specific RNA was due to ...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B and C are the leading causes of liver diseases worldwide. For hematological and solid malignancy patients undergoing chemotherapy, increases in HBV DNA and HCV RNA levels can be detected which may result in reactivation and hepatitis-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Hbs ag and Anti HCV positivity in patients wit...

BACKGROUND The histopathological spectrum and role of hepatitis viruses in cases of hypertransaminasaemia of unknown aetiology have not been correctly analysed in a sufficiently large number of patients. METHODS We studied 1075 consecutive patients referred for liver biopsy because of elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels for more than six months. From this population we selected...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis D virus (HDV) requires hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to propagate infection and cause disease. Entecavir is a nucleoside analog with potent antiviral efficacy, and in the woodchuck animal model it also decreased hepatitis B virus (HBV) cccDNA and woodchuck surface antigen. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of entecavir in chronic hepatitis D (CHD)....

In HBV/HIV-coinfected patients, the risk of end-stage liver disease and death is increased. This open-label, prospective, pilot study evaluated abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine twice daily plus tenofovir once daily in HBV/HIV-coinfected antiretroviral-naïve subjects. Nine adults (8 males) enrolled, with baseline mean HIV-1 RNA = 4.5 log(10) copies/mL, HBV DNA = 9.0 log(10) copies/mL, and median C...