Hepatitis B virus genotype E (HBV/E) is highly prevalent in Western Africa. In this work, 30 HBV/E isolates from HBsAg positive Angolans (staff and visitors of a private hospital in Luanda) were genetically characterized: 16 of them were completely sequenced and the pre-S/S sequences of the remaining 14 were determined. A high proportion (12/30, 40%) of subjects tested positive for both HBsAg a...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important health concern worldwide, with critical outcomes. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative chronic hepatitis B is frequently caused by a mutation (G1896A) in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore (PC) reading frame, which creates a stop codon, causing premature termination of the HBe protein. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate t...

The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical features of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive and negative diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) and to compare the outcomes and serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA loads of patients treated with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) regimens with rituximab (RCHOP) or without. A total of 451 DLBCL patients, ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Little is known about whether low serum HBsAg levels result from impaired HBsAg synthesis or a reduced number of hepatocytes caused by advanced liver fibrosis. Therefore, we investigated the capacity for HBsAg synthesis in a cross-sectional cohort of treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients. METHODS Chronic hepatitis B patients (n = 362) were enrolled; liver biopsies w...

A fully automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (Architect HBsAg QT) was used for the detection and quantitation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The assay is capable of processing up to 800 HBsAg tests per hour. The concentration of HBsAg is determined by utilizing a previously generated Architect HBsAg calibration curve. Architect HBsAg QT sensitivity was found to be aroun...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Greece has been decreasing over the last decades. However, recent epidemiological data are lacking. METHODS We studied 1,840 Army recruits from 05/2004 until 10/2005, and performed serological testing for HBsAg, anti-HBsAg, and anti-HBcAg. We also examined their association with several factors, including age, residential area, socio...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to characterize the expression and secretion of hepatitis B surface-antigen (HBsAg) in the hepatocytes of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients at different phases of infection; as such, the association of intrahepatic HBsAg expression with virological markers and the histological characteristics were analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS 302 chronic HBV infect...

BACKGROUND In this study, we aimed to identify baseline predictors of response in chronic hepatitis B patients treated with a combination of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α2a and adefovir. METHODS We treated 92 chronic hepatitis B patients (44 hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg]-positive and 48 HBeAg-negative) with HBV DNA > 100,000 copies/ml (> 17,182 IU/ml) with PEG-IFN and adefovir for 48 weeks...

BACKGROUND Viral load measurement is necessary to estimate mother-to-child transmission risk for women with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), however, it is expensive. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between HBsAg and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels, and to determine potential applications of HBsAg level monitoring for estimating viral load. METHODS 85 patients with CHB (3...

BACKGROUND The elimination of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) is the final goal of hepatitis B treatment, but is rarely achieved. As quantitative assays for HBsAg recently became available, we have investigated whether quantitative HBsAg measurements can substitute for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA quantification in treatment monitoring. METHODS Within this study, 23 liver transplant ...