title: Correlation Between Hepatitis B G1896A Precore Mutations and HBeAg in Chronic HBV Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important health concern worldwide, with critical outcomes. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative chronic hepatitis B is frequently caused by a mutation (G1896A) in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore (PC) reading frame, which creates a stop codon, causing premature termination of the HBe protein.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the G1896A PC mutation and its effect on HBeAg detection in chronic HBV patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 120 chronic HBV patients neither vaccinated or who had benefited from immunoglobulin therapy, were recruited. The HBV-DNA was extracted from plasma and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed. Positive PCR products were subjected to automated sequencing. The HBV serological markers [hepatitis B s antigen (HBsAg), HBeAg] were tested.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred out of 120 (83.3%) patients were HBeAg negative and 100% were HBsAg positive. The comparison of nucleotide sequences with the reference sequence (Accession number: AB033559) in HBeAg negative patients showed that there was a high rate of mutations in G1896A (93.18%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that the rate of G1896A mutation at the PC region among HBeAg negative patients, in the Golestan province of Iran, was similar to the average rate encountered in other parts of Iran. The PC stop codon mutation was detected in 93.18% of HBeAg negative patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to elucidate the exact role of these mutations in the clinical course of chronic HBV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Sareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhand
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Chiman
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karami
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosseinzadeh Adli
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alijan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabarraei
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khodabakhshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolvahab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moradi
keywords: Hepatitis B e Antigens; Hepatitis B, Chronic; Iran; Mutation
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