The mechanisms by which HBV establishes and maintains chronic infection are poorly understood. Although adult acquired HBV is generally cleared by a robust immune response, most individuals infected at childbirth or in very early childhood develop lifelong chronic infection. In addition, acute infections are unresolved in approximately 5% of individuals infected in adulthood. The host cell mech...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Taiwan has a high prevalence of hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with increasing consumption of alcohol. We investigated the impact of heavy alcohol consumption and HBV infection on HCC in cirrhotic patients. METHODS 966 cirrhotic patients (132 with HBV infection and alcoholism, 632 with HBV infection, and 202 patients with alcoholism) wer...

Background: Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are used increasingly to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Reports were published recently on hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBV-R) in patients with HBV–HCV co-infection. Hepatitis B virus reactivation, defined as an abrupt increase in HBV replication in patients with inactive or resolved HBV infection, may result in clinically sig...

Approximately 240 million people worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), which represents a significant challenge to public health. The current goal in treating chronic HBV infection is to block progression of HBV-related liver injury and inflammation to end-stage liver diseases, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, because we are unable to eliminate chroni...

Occult hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) is characterized by HBV DNA positivity but HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) negativity. Occult HBV infection is associated with a risk of HBV transmission through blood transfusion, hemodialysis, and liver transplantation. Furthermore, occult HBV infection contributes to the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. We recently reported the chara...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a globally distributed health problem. The number of carriers of HBV is estimated to exceed 240 million people worldwide. Compared with uninfected individuals, HBV carriers have an increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. The prevention of HBV infection is therefore strongly recommended, and a HBV vaccine is available. For carriers, treatment w...

results findings showed that the genotype -607a/a is associated with the susceptibility to chronic hepatitis b. furthermore, allele c at position -137 is suggested to play a protective role against development of chronic hbv infection. conclusions host genetic factors play an important role in determining the outcome of hbv infection. it is suggested that il-18 genotype -607 a/a is associated w...

background: toll- like receptors (tlrs) play an important role in the recognition of damps and pamps and induction ofinflammation. previous studies demonstrated that depression and anxiety can influence the expression levels of immune related molecules. our previous study revealed that mrna levels of irak4, traf3 and irf7 were significantly decreased in chronic hbv infected (chb) patients when ...

Occult HBV infection is defined as the persistence of HBV DNA in individuals negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), and many different mechanisms have been reported in different countries. However, in China, one of the endemic areas for HBV infection, no reports have been published on occult HBV infection. The present study investigated the virological features and the mechanism of occult HB...

Approximately 350 million people worldwide are living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and an estimated 620,000 die annually from complications of HBV-related liver disease [1]. In the United States, the incidence of acute HBV infection has declined substantially since 1985 as a result of the availability of effective HBV vaccines and widespread immunization of infants and high-r...