BACKGROUND Precore stop codon (G1896A) mutation is one of the commonest mutations found in patients with chronic hepatitis B. However, over the years, this mutation was not reported much in Malaysia. OBJECTIVES We therefore investigated the presence of G1896A mutation in Malaysian population and its association with HBeAg status, clinical stage, hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype and e-seroconv...

Activating mutations in the core promoter of the TERT gene have been described in many different tumor entities. In vitro models showed a two- to fourfold increase in transcriptional activity of the TERT promoter through creation of a consensus binding motif for Ets/TCF transcription factors caused by these mutations. TERT core promoter mutations are the most common mutations in bladder cancer ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA clones were propagated from 57 carriers with antibody to hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and sequenced within nucleotides (nt) 1685 to 1926 including the core promoter (nt 1742 to 1849) and the pre-C region (nt 1814 to 1900). Mutations in the core promoter or those in the pre-C region, or both, were detected in 328 (97.9%) of 335 clones from them. Five carriers were in...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the persistence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (which is considered to be an important therapeutic end point) after adefovir dipivoxil treatment. METHODS Forty-five patients who experienced confirmed HBeAg seroconversion and had a serum hepatitis B virus DNA level < 10(5) copies/mL while receiving 10 mg of adefovir dipivoxil in a prior study we...

Myostatin is a growth factor belonging to the TGFß superfamily. TGFß growth factors are active in the regulation of embryonic development and in tissue homeostasis in adults. Myostatin is a growth factor controlling proliferation of myoblasts in embryonic development. Mutations in coding sequences of the bovine myostatin (GDF8) gene lead to muscle hyperplasia suggesting its inhibitory function ...

To investigate the roles of mutations in enhancer II (Enh II) and basal core promoter (BCP) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we determined the sequence of Enh II/BCP in 152 HCC and 136 non-HCC patients from a high-incidence area of East China. A longitudinal study was conducted on 21 cases in which serial plasma samples were available before HCC. In total, six point...

BACKGROUND In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of the most common mutations occurring in Enhancer II (EnhII), Basal Core Promoter (BCP), Precore (PC), and Core (C) regions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome. OBJECTIVES We also investigated the correlation between HBV variants, their genotypes, and patients' HBe antigen (HBeAg: soluble shape of the capsid antigen) status. PATIENTS AND ...

Mutations in the core promoter and precore regions are frequently found in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients, but precore stop codon mutation is restricted to hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes that have T at nucleotide 1858. The aims of this study were to determine the role of core promoter and/or precore mutations in HBeAg seroconversion and their impact on the subsequent course ...

The present study was conducted to determine prevalence and exact type, as well as nucleotide position of the precore/core mutations of hepatitis B virus found in Thai patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis and/or cirrhosis in relation to the clinical parameters established with the respective patients. To that end, 24 HBeAg-positive and 56 HBeAg-negative individuals were selected at random ...