Naturally occurring hepatitis B virus X deletions and insertions among Korean chronic patients.
Deletions and insertions in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) X region have been associated with severe forms of liver disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the molecular epidemiologic features of this virus have been described rarely. Deletions and insertions in the X region were determined by direct sequencing in a Korean cohort of 267 patients with different clinical statuses. Deletions and insertions were observed in two sets of six patients each (2.2%, 6/267). The prevalence of deletions or insertions was significantly higher in patients with severe liver disease, HCC, or cirrhosis of the liver (7.2%, 10/132) compared to patients who were carriers or had chronic hepatitis (1.5%, 2/135) (P = 0.017). All deletions in six strains were concentrated at the C terminal end of HBx, encompassing the 113th to 154th codons. A total of four novel types of insertions (PKLL, GM, FFN, and tt) were observed in six patients. Of particular interest, all six strains with insertions were accompanied by double mutations in the basal core promoter (BCP). In conclusion, these results suggest that deletions or insertions in the X region may contribute to disease progression in Korean patients with genotype C infection.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Seoung-Ae
SA
Lee
Ho-Suk
HS
Mun
Hong
H
Kim
Hyung-Ki
HK
Lee
Buyng-Jun
BJ
Kim
Eung-Soo
ES
Hwang
Yoon-Hoh
YH
Kook
Bum-Joon
BJ
Kim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000821:virology; D002353:Carrier State / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D056910:Republic of Korea; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015534:Trans-Activators; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C057628:hepatitis B virus X protein