title: Precore mutant chronic hepatitis B in an autochthonous Belgian population: a study of ten patients.
abstract: The mode of contamination, presentation, clinical evolution and liver histology of 10 native Belgian patients with chronic hepatitis B likely due to a peculiar viral strain, the so called precore mutant hepatitis B virus were reviewed. This viral strain first described in Southern European regions is characterized by a mutation of a single base change at nucleotide 1896 in the preterminal codon of the precore region which creates a stop codon that prevents the production of HBeAg. In this setting, abnormal liver biochemistry and active viral replication as evidenced by HBV DNA positivity often coincides with a serological profile similar to that observed in healthy HBsAg carriers. Our data indicate that chronic hepatitis related to such a viral strain may be observed in a native Belgian population. This unusual presentation of chronic hepatitis B should thus be kept in mind when interpreting atypical sero-biochemical features, evaluating the risk of infectivity and the potential benefit of antiviral therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital St-Luc, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kanyinda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horsmans
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cornu
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Geubel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017354:Point Mutation