title: Real-time quantitation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in tumorous and surrounding tissue from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Few data are available on the levels of HBV DNA in liver tissue of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, HBV DNA was quantitated by a TaqMan real-time PCR method and results were normalised to an endogenous reference gene. The assay could detect reproducibly viral sequences from over 10(7) to less than 50 copies/microg of liver DNA. The HBV DNA content in liver samples from 11 HBsAg-positive patients (median: 10(5) copies/microg of DNA) was significantly higher (P < 0.001) compared to the viral DNA concentration detected in liver samples from 15 of 25 HBsAg-negative patients (median: 2.6 x 10(2) copies/microg). A liver DNA amount > or =1 HBV DNA copy per cell was detected in half of tissue samples from HBsAg-positive patients, and in none from HBsAg-negative ones. Liver tissue HBV DNA content was significantly higher in anti-HCV-negative than in anti-HCV-positive cases (P < 0.001). These results show that the quantitation of liver HBV DNA by real-time PCR can be useful to understand HBV state in hepatocellular carcinoma and viral interplay in patients with multiple viral infections.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zanella
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Domenighini
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albertini
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cariani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies