These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Clinical significance of hepatitis B virus precore and core promoter variants in Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B. Author: Yim SY, Um SH, Young Jung J, Kim TH, Kim JD, Keum B, Seo YS, Yim HJ, Jeen YT, Lee HS, Chun HJ, Kim CD, Ryu HS. Journal: J Clin Gastroenterol; 2015 Jan; 49(1):61-8. PubMed ID: 24406435. Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIM: We aimed to clarify the clinical significance of precore (preC)/core promoter (CP) variants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. METHODS: We assessed serum HBeAg, HBV DNA levels, alanine transferase (ALT) levels, and progression of liver fibrosis in 226 Korean CHB patients, presumed to be infected with genotype C HBV, to analyze HBV variants in the preC region (G1896A) and CP regions (A1762T, G1764A). RESULTS: CP and preC variants were more frequently found in HBeAg-negative patients than in HBeAg-positive patients (P<0.05). HBeAg-positive patients with CP variants had higher ALT levels and more advanced fibrosis scores (all P<0.01) than those without variants; those with preC variant had lower HBV DNA levels (P=0.009), with no significant difference in ALT levels and fibrosis scores. However, no significant correlation was found between HBV variants and clinicopathologic findings in HBeAg-negative patients. Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that (1) progression of liver fibrosis (≥F2) was associated with older age in both HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients (P<0.05) and with CP variants in the HBeAg-positive group (P=0.007), and (2) HBV DNA levels were positively correlated with ALT levels, irrespective of HBeAg (P<0.05), whereas they were negatively correlated with the presence of preC variant in the HBeAg-positive group (P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: In HBeAg-positive CHB patients infected with genotype C HBV, preC variant was associated with enhanced host immune response with lower HBV DNA levels, whereas CP variants were associated with severe liver damage and liver fibrosis progression.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]