title: Intrahepatic hepatitis B virus replication and liver histology in subjects with occult hepatitis B infection.
abstract: We studied the intrahepatic hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicative status in 40 people with occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) and 40 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Intrahepatic HBV DNA, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), and pre-genomic RNA (pgRNA) were quantified. Patients with OBI had median necroinflammation and fibrosis scores of 1 and 0, respectively. Intrahepatic total HBV DNA, cccDNA and pgRNA were detectable in 30 (77%), one (3%) and five (13%) of the participants with OBI, respectively. People with OBI had lower median intrahepatic total HBV DNA than the patients with CHB (p < 0.0001). They had nearly normal liver histology and low intrahepatic HBV replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: D K-H
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: C-K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: W-K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: F-Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: C-K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: mfyuen@hku.hk.
authors.forename: M-F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Yuen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004270:DNA, Circular; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004270:DNA, Circular; D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Covalently closed circular DNA; hepatitis B virus replication; intrahepatic hepatitis B virus DNA; liver histology; occult hepatitis B infection