title: Precore/core region mutations of hepatitis B virus related to clinical severity.
abstract: Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major health problem, with more than 350 million chronically infected people worldwide and over 1 million annual deaths due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. HBV mutations are primarily generated due both to a lack of proofreading capacity by HBV polymerase and to host immune pressure, which is a very important factor for predicting disease progression and therapeutic outcomes. Several types of HBV precore/core (preC/C) mutations have been described to date. The host immune response against T cells drives mutation in the preC/C region. Specifically, preC/C mutations in the MHC class II restricted region are more common than in other regions and are significantly related to hepatocellular carcinoma. Certain mutations, including preC G1896A, are also significantly related to HBeAg-negative chronic infection. This review article mainly focuses on the HBV preC/C mutations that are related to disease severity and on the HBeAg serostatus of chronically infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Hong Kim, Seoung-Ae Lee, Seung Yeon Do, Bum-Joon Kim, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute and Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Hong Kim, Seoung-Ae Lee, Seung Yeon Do, Bum-Joon Kim, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute and Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seoung-Ae
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Hong Kim, Seoung-Ae Lee, Seung Yeon Do, Bum-Joon Kim, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute and Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: Hong Kim, Seoung-Ae Lee, Seung Yeon Do, Bum-Joon Kim, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Liver Research Institute and Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 110-799, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bum-Joon
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000737:chemistry; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D009154:Mutation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens
keywords: Disease severity; HBeAg serostatus; Hepatitis B virus infection; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Precore/core mutations