Analysis of the Hepatitis B virus precore and ORF-X sequences in patients with antibody to hepatitis B e antigen with and without normal ALT levels

✍ Scribed by Cabrerizo, María; Bartolomé, Javier; Iñigo, Elena R.; López-Alcorocho, Juan Manuel; Cotonat, Teresa; Carreño, Vicente

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 108 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199812)56:4<294::aid-jmv2>3.0.co;2-u

✦ Synopsis

Serum samples from 20 anti-hepatitis B e antigenpositive patients with and without normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels who had serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA detectable only by polymerase chain reation (PCR) were examined. Viral DNA was amplified by PCR, using primers that encompassed precore and ORF-X regions and sequenced directly, to investigate whether mutations in the nucleotide sequences of X and precore gene regions of HBV-DNA might be responsible for the difference in the activity of disease and in the levels of viral replication. The HBV-DNA concentration in patients with abnormal ALT levels was higher than in those with normal ALT. The amount of HBV-DNA correlated with the ALT levels (P < 0.05). Seventy-two percent of patients had HBV-DNA harboring the 1896 precore stop mutation, and there was a negative correlation between the percentage of precore mutant genotype and the HBV-DNA concentration (P < 0.05). Thirty percent of patients had mutations in ORF-X. Patients with ORF-X mutations had lower levels of HBV-DNA than those who had wild-type virus. The presence of mutations in precore and X regions may be related to a low HBV-DNA concentration and reduced biochemical activity in patients with anti-HBe.