Low Frequency of Precore Mutants in Anti-Hepatitis B e Antigen Positive Subjects with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Chennai, Southern India

• Published in: Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 18; no. 10; pp. 1722 - 1728
• Main Authors: Shanmugam, Saravanan (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), E-mail: saravanan@yrgcare.org, Velu, Vijayakumar (University of Madras, Chennai, India), Nandakumar, Subhadra (University of Madras, Chennai, India), Madhavan, Vidya (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Shanmugasundaram, Uma (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Shankar, Esaki Muthu (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Murugavel, Kailapuri (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Balakrishnan, Pachamuthu (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Kumarasamy, Nagalingeswaran (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Solomon, Suniti (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India), Thyagarajan, Sadras Panchatcharam (YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai, India)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Korean Society for Applied Microbiology 01.10.2008; 한국미생물·생명공학회
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Carrier State - immunology; Carrier State - virology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HBV; Hepatitis B Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis B Core Antigens - genetics; Hepatitis B e Antigens - genetics; Hepatitis B e Antigens - immunology; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - genetics; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus - genetics; Hepatitis B virus - immunology; Hepatitis B, Chronic - immunology; Hepatitis B, Chronic - virology; Humans; INDE; INDIA; Male; Middle Aged; Mutation; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Precore/core mutants; Prospective Studies; Young Adult; 생물학; India; precore/core mutants; Orthohepadnavirus; India; Infection; Virus; Antigen; Viral hepatitis B; Hepadnaviridae; Viral disease; Mutation; Hepatitis B virus; Viral hepatitis E; HBV
• ISSN: 1017-7825

The natural course of chronic hepatitis B (CH-B) virus infection is reportedly variable, and the long-term outcomes in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis 13 infection are distinct from HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis. However, the molecular virological factors that contribute to the progression of liver disease in the south Indian setting remain largely nuclear. We prospectively studied 679 consecutive patients for HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and HBV DNA by qualitative PCR. Randomly selected samples were subjected to bidirectional sequencing to reveal core/precore variants. Of the total 679 chronic HBV cases investigated, 23%, (154/679) were replicative HBV carriers. Furthermore, amongst the 560 HBV DNA samples analyzed, 26% (146/560) were viremic. Among the 154 HBeAg positive cases, HBV DNA was positive in 118 cases (77%), significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than the anti-HBe positive (7%,) (28/406) cases. Significant increase in liver disease (p less than 0.01) with ALT enzyme elevation (p less than 0.001) was observed in both HBe and anti-HBe viremic cases. Interestingly, low frequencies of mutations were seen in the precore region of the HBV strains studied. HBV precore and core promoter variants were less often detected in subjects with "e" negative chronic HBV infection and, therefore, may not have a prognostic role in determining liver disease sequelae in this part of tropical India.