BACKGROUND Hepatitis B virus (HBV) variants belong to different genotypes, A-J, whose worldwide distribution is linked with geography, probably because viral spread was associated with ancient human migrations. HBV genotype G (HBV-G) is an aberrant genotype with little sequence divergence, suggesting a recent origin. HBV-G is strongly associated with certain risk groups such as intravenous drug...

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...

A recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) expressing NanoLuc (NL) (HBV/NL) was produced by cotransfecting a plasmid containing a 1.2-fold HBV genome carrying the NL gene with a plasmid bearing a packaging-defective 1.2-fold HBV genome into a human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. We found that NL activity in HBV/NL-infected primary hepatocytes or sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide-transduced ...

Introduction: The hepatitis B is a viral infection that causes a big problem globally. About 2 billion people worldwide are infected and there are now about 400 million HBV-DNA carriers around the world. HBV infection is the ninth cause of death worldwide and infects about 350 million new cases each year in the world. HBV-DNA can be spotted in different body secretions and fluids, including se...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The risk of recurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and prognosis of liver transplantation in patients with HBV has dramatically changed with the use of prophylaxis including hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg) and antiviral agents. METHODS This study analyzes the prognostic value of HBV DNA level before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and the effect of HBV proph...

Pathogenic and therapeutic differences among hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have been documented. However, the association of virological characteristics with clinical differences among HBV genotypes remains unclear. We therefore studied the clinical and virological characteristics of Taiwanese volunteer blood donors infected with HBV genotypes B and C. HBV genotypes were determined in 300 c...

Understanding the consequences of mutation in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome on HBV replication is critical for treating chronic HBV infection. In this study, HBV replication in HepG2 cells initiated by transduction with precore (PC), rtM204I, and wild-type (wt) HBV recombinant baculoviruses was compared. The pattern and magnitude of HBV replication initiated by the PC HBV recombinant bacul...

Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health problem. Serum HBV DNA measurement is a non-invasive test that predicts the liver disease progression. The aim of this study was to determine the HBV DNA level and look for a relation between the HBV DNA level and liver histology. Methods: This was a cross sectional study on chronic...