Introduction. Antitumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) agents are widely used for treatment of rheumatic and dermatological diseases. We conducted the systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of HBV reactivation among patients treated with anti-TNF-α. Methods and Findings. A comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE, Scopus, and ISI Web of Knowledge databases was conducted. ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues to be a major global cause of acute and chronic liver disease despite the existence of successful vaccine and antiviral therapies. As such, HBV-related liver disease remains one of the most common indications for liver transplantation. An understanding of the pathophysiology of hepatitis B viral infection including the potential...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation has previously occurred in hepatitis B surface antigen-negative patients with malignant lymphoma who received rituximab-based combination chemotherapy. However, few reports have described cases of HBV reactivation in patients with multiple myeloma thus far. We report a case of HBV reactivation in a patient with multiple myeloma treated with chemotherapy, aut...

We aimed to evaluate whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutations at the core promoter region could improve the prediction and specific prophylaxis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic HBV-infected patients. A total of 2,114 HBV-infected patients enrolled between August 1998 and December 2007 were followed-up for 18,406 person-years. Of those, 612 received ≥48 week treatments with nucleos(...

The literature on hepatitis B virus (HBV) in immunocompromised patients is heterogeneous and refers mainly to the pre-antivirals era. Currently, a rational approach to the problem of hepatitis B in these patients provides for: a) the evaluation of HBV markers and of liver condition in all subjects starting immunosuppressive therapies (baseline), b) the treatment with antivirals (therapy) of act...

We report a case of a precore mutant hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in a patient with follicular lymphoma who was treated simultaneously with chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone) and rituximab, occurred five months after the end of therapy. Despite lamivudine therapy, she died because of fulminant hepatitis. This case illustrates the possibility of late reactivation...

A study on hepatitis B and C virus seroprevalence was carried out on blood samples from 327 municipal solid waste workers in Messina (Italy) to verify the hypothesis that this category of workers is at high risk for such diseases. The fact that 32.41% of all the subjects showed previous exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) substantiates the need to proceed with compulsory HBV vaccine prophylaxis...

Reactivation of hepatitis B refers to the abrupt increase in hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in a patient with inactive or resolved hepatitis B. Reactivation can occur spontaneously, but more typically is triggered by immunosuppressive therapy of cancer, autoimmune disease, or organ transplantation. Reactivation can be transient and clinically silent, but often causes a flare of disease tha...

Occult HBV infection (OBI) is defined as HBV DNA detection in serum or in the liver by sensitive diagnostic tests in HBsAg-negative patients with or without serologic markers of previous viral exposure. OBI seems to be higher among subjects at high risk for HBV infection and with liver disease. OBI can be both a source of virus contamination in blood and organ donations and the reservoir for fu...

In the 1990 s, liver transplantation for hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) related-liver diseases was a very controversial issue since recurrent infection of the graft was inevitable. Significant progress has been made in the prophylaxis and treatment of recurrent hepatitis B/C (or HBV/HCV infection) after liver transplantation. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model of ordinary dif...