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Quantitative analysis of hepatitis B virus precore mutant in hepatitis type B
T Ichikawa1, H Takagi, M Kinoshita
1The First Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan. htakagi@sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine
|May 18, 1999
Summary
Active liver disease in chronic hepatitis B is linked to a precore mutant hepatitis B virus (HBV). A sensitive assay, CMSSA, detects this mutant, aiding in clinical course evaluation for hepatitis B patients.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Molecular Diagnostics
Background:
- Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) can present with active liver disease post-HBeAg seroconversion.
- Prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore stop-codon mutations is implicated in CHB.
- Conventional methods for HBV mutant detection lack clinical utility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the competitive mutation site specific assay (CMSSA) for detecting precore mutant HBV-DNA.
- To assess the clinical significance of precore mutant HBV in CHB patients.
Main Methods:
- Utilized competitive mutation site specific assay (CMSSA) to detect precore mutant HBV-DNA.
- Compared CMSSA with polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
Main Results:
- Precore mutant HBV-DNA levels were significantly higher in HBeAg-positive patients compared to anti-HBe antibody-positive patients.
- Elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) correlated with higher precore mutant HBV-DNA levels.
- CMSSA identified precore mutant HBV-DNA in 10/11 patients negative by PCR-RFLP, indicating higher sensitivity.
Conclusions:
- CMSSA is a sensitive method for detecting precore mutant HBV-DNA.
- The precore mutant is detectable in the HBeAg-positive phase of CHB.
- CMSSA aids in evaluating the clinical course of CHB patients.