Changes in the prevalence of HBeAg-negative mutant hepatitis B virus during the course of chronic hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B virus with a G-to-A point mutation at nucleotide 83 in the precore region (mutant hepatitis B virus 83), which cannot produce HBeAg, is commonly found in HBe antibody-positive hepatitis B virus carriers. We analyzed the consecutive changes in the prevalence of mutant hepatitis B virus 83 during the course of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Forty-five patients with chronic hepatitis B who were followed up for more than 2 yr in our hospital were studied by polymerase chain reaction in combination with a restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Mutant hepatitis B virus 83 was found in 14 of 18 (78%) HBe antibody-positive patients and in 8 of 27 (30%) HBeAg-positive patients at baseline. Eighteen of the 22 patients who had mutant hepatitis B virus 83 (82%) showed mixed viral populations of wild-type hepatitis B virus and mutant hepatitis B virus 83, whereas 4 (18%) had only mutant hepatitis B virus 83 and were positive for HBe antibody. During a 2 yr follow-up period, mutant hepatitis B virus 83 was newly detected in 9 of 23 (39%) patients who had wild-type hepatitis B virus alone at baseline. The proportion of mutant hepatitis B virus 83 to whole hepatitis B virus in the serum of 18 patients with mixed viral populations at baseline fluctuated during follow-up. In contrast, wild-type hepatitis B virus was never detected throughout the study in all four patients who had only mutant hepatitis B virus 83 at baseline.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hamasaki
K
K
First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
Nakata
K
K
Nagayama
Y
Y
Ohtsuru
A
A
Daikoku
M
M
Taniguchi
K
K
Tsutsumi
T
T
Sato
Y
Y
Kato
Y
Y
Nagataki
S
S
D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens