Hepatitis B precore mutant in children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection |
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Authors: | TOMOO Fujisawa,AYANO Inui,HARUKI Komatsu,TAKASHI Ohkawa,TSUYOSHI Sogo,& YOSHIHIRO Miyagawa |
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Affiliation: | Department of Pediatrics, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan. fujitomo@ndmc.ac.jp |
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Abstract: | BACKGROUND: In adults, hepatitis B virus (HBV) with a G to A point mutation at nucleotide 83 in the precore region (mutant HBV 83), is commonly found in HB e antibody positive HBV carriers. It has been reported that this mutant is not able to produce HB e antigen. The exact prevalence of mutant HBV 83 in patients with chronic HBV infection is not fully understood, especially in children. METHODS: To investigate the role of mutant HBV 83 in children with chronic HBV infection, sera were tested for the presence of mutant HBV 83 using a mutation site-specific assay. RESULTS: Mutant HBV 83 was detected in 15 of 22 children (68%). Seven children were followed longitudinally, of which three were asymptomatic carriers and the other four had chronic hepatitis B on entry. There was no clear relationship between the disease activity and the presence of mutant HBV 83. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that mutant HBV 83 is commonly present in children with chronic HBV infection and this mutant is not necessarily associated with activation of hepatitis. |
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Keywords: | children hepatitis B virus interferon precore mutant |
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