BACKGROUND The natural outcomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections vary considerably among individuals The infection may heal naturally, or patients may succumb to chronic liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanism is not fully understood. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the interaction among four single nu...

Background: Blood transfusion plays a great role in public health and the blood safety still has remained a main concern. HBV has been considered as one of the most prevalent blood borne infections. It is estimated that chronic HBV affects 350-400 million people worldwide. Comprehensive knowledge about HBV has high importance in Iran due to high number of blood dependent patients. Material ...

PURPOSE Increased HBV-DNA concentration is a prognostic factor of disease progression in chronic hepatitis B patients. Moreover, active hepatic inflammation during HBV replication influences apoptosis intensification. The aim of this study was to estimate occurrence of HBV replication among carriers of HBsAg. Furthermore, we analysed the correlation between HBV replication and HBeAg or anti-HBe...

The World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region with an estimated 160 million chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in 2007 bears a significant burden of HBV-related mortality and morbidity.1 Most Member States in the region have an estimated chronic HBV infection proportion of more than 8% in their adult population, which is the highest worldwide.2 The WHO Regional Office for the...

The risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBVr) in chronic HBV carriers, in occult HBV patients or in acute HBV patients affected by psoriasis and treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α agents is a clinical practice issue to face with, particularly if the treatment has a long-term maintenance finality. The aims of this review are to examine the current knowledge on HBVr inciden...

BACKGROUND Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the promoter region of the interleukin (IL)-10 genes have a role in determining hepatitis B virus (HBV) outcome. OBJECTIVES This study evaluates the correlation between HBV infection and SNP in IL-10 gene promoter. PATIENTS AND METHODS Ninety-six HBV-infected patients (32 chronic hepatitis B infection patients, 34 healthy carriers, 30 spon...

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection constitutes a major public health problem particularly in developing countries in East Asia, South-East Asia, the Pacific Basin and Africa. In Malaysia, a developing nation in the South East Asian region, the chronic HBV carrier rate varies between < 1% to about 10% depending on the ethnic group studied. The highest frequency is seen among the Chinese, ...

A review of maternal transmission of HBV infections revealed that transmission rates are high in many countries in Asia, due mainly to the high prevalence of carriers and high HBeAg rates in these carriers. Transmission can occur in the anteparturn, intrapartum and postpartum periods. About 90% occurs at the time of birth, and 5-10% are the result of in-utero infection. 90% of newborns infected...

Serum samples from a total of 72 chronic hepatitis B virus carriers were analysed by serological, biochemical and molecular assays. The aim was to evaluate the relationship of the serological and biochemical parameters with molecular markers in order to assess the infectivity of virus. Out of 72 chronic HBsAg positive carriers, 28 patients were HBeAg positive and anti-HBe negative, 38 patients ...

BACKGROUND Previous studies showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HLA-DP, TCF19 and EHMT2 genes may affect the chronic hepatitis B (CHB). To predict the degree of risk for chronicity of HBV, this study determined associations with these SNPs. METHODS The participants for this study were defined into 4 groups; HCC (n = 230), CHB (n = 219), resolved HBV infection (n = 113) a...