Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐associated nephropathy is considered as an immune‐mediated disorder which is dependent on interactions between viral, host, and environmental factors. But there are few reports that investigated the relationship between the development of HBV‐associated nephropathy and HBV genotypes and the mutations. To clarify the relationship between nephropathy and HBV genotype in Japan, six male patients with HBV‐associated nephropathy were examined. The complete genome sequences of HBV were determined directly and the specific mutations associated with the development of HBV‐associated nephropathy were examined by comparison of the alignments along with consensus sequences [HBV/A1 (Aa), A2 (Ae), B1 (Bj), B2 (Ba), C1 (Cs) and C2 (Ce)] retrieved from international database. The mean age of the six patients was 33.5 years. HBeAg was found in all patients and serum HBV–DNA levels were relatively high. Histological findings of renal tissues indicated five cases of membranous nephropathy and one membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. HBV genotypes from the six patients were two HBV/A1, two A2 and two C2, suggesting HBV/A was predominant. G1862T mutation was observed in the two HBV/A1 patients, resulting in the pre‐core amino acid substitution with a switch from valine (Val) to phenylalanine (Phe). Only one patient had core deletions. It is concluded that HBV/A may be associated with membranous nephropathy, but little relationship between HBV gene mutations and the development of HBV‐associated nephropathy was observed. J. Med. Virol. 79:1305–1311, 2007. © Wiley‐Liss, Inc.