Gender disparity in distribution of the major hydrophilic region variants of hepatitis B virus genotype C according to hepatitis B e antigen serostatus.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion during chronic HBV infection is known to play an important role in disease progression and patient response to antiviral agents. The aim of the present study was to analyze gender disparity in distribution of major hydrophilic region (MHR) variants according to HBeAg serostatus. Prevalence of MHR variants from 68 Korean patients with chronic hepatitis (31 HBeAg-positive and 37 HBeAg-negative) was examined in terms of HBeAg serostatus and sex by direct sequencing analysis of the MHR. Gender disparity was observed in the distribution of MHR variants according to HBeAg serostatus. In male patients, the prevalence of MHR variants was significantly higher in HBeAg negative patients than in HBeAg positive patients [58.8% (10/17 patients) vs. 14.3% (3/21 patients), P=0.004]. However, the same was not true in female patients [55.0% (11/20 patients) vs. 60.0% (6/10 patients), P=1.000)]. In addition, 2 mutation types (L110I and G145A) related to HBeAg serostatus were found. In conclusion, HBeAg seroconversion in male chronic patients infected with genotype C could lead to mutations of MHR, major target to host immune response, which might in turn contribute to HBV persistence and immune evasion.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute, Cancer Research Institute and SNUMRC, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Seoung-Ae
SA
Lee
Yoo-Kyung
YK
Cho
Keun-Hwa
KH
Lee
Eung-Soo
ES
Hwang
Yoon-Hoh
YH
Kook
Bum-Joon
BJ
Kim
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens