Clinical and molecular characterization of chronic hepatitis B in Albania: a country that is still highly endemic for HBV infection
| Autor: | Claudio Argentini, Loreta A. Kondili, A.M. Maina, Maurizia Rossana Brunetto, Alfonso Mele, V. La Sorsa, Maria Rapicetta, Bashkim Resuli, Paola Chionne |
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| Rok vydání: | 2004 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Hepatitis B virus Genotype Viremia medicine.disease_cause Virus Liver disease Hepatitis B Chronic Orthohepadnavirus Virology medicine Humans Point Mutation Hepatitis B e Antigens Promoter Regions Genetic Aged Molecular Epidemiology biology business.industry Age Factors virus diseases Genetic Variation Nucleic Acid Hybridization Sequence Analysis DNA Middle Aged biology.organism_classification medicine.disease digestive system diseases Infectious Diseases Hepadnaviridae HBeAg Liver Albania DNA Viral Viral disease business |
| Zdroj: | Journal of medical virology. 75(1) |
| ISSN: | 0146-6615 |
| Popis: | Albania is a Mediterranean country, still with a high endemicity level of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The chronic hepatitis B profile was characterized in this geographical area and used as a model to investigate the impact of endemicity level on the prevalence of the two major forms of chronic hepatitis B (HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 62 chronic hepatitis B patients consecutively admitted to the most important tertiary health care center for the diagnosis and treatment of liver disease in Albania. HBV-DNA was measured with an in-house PCR with a sensitivity of 10(4) copies/ml which uses primers encompassing the pre-core/core region. PCR products were subjected to sequencing and oligohybridization assay. Of the 62 patients, 75.8% had HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B. Genotype D was found in all 39 patients with detectable HBV viremia, for whom the heterogeneity of the region modulating HBeAg expression was assessed. Basic core promoter (BCP) mutations (1762/1764) were observed more often in anti-HBe-positive and older patients. In more than 90% of the HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients with detectable viremia, HBV that carries the G to A pre-core mutation at nucleotide 1896 was found. Patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B were younger than HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients, and for symptomatic and asymptomatic liver-disease patients, the age of peak prevalence was at least 10 years lower for HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients. In conclusion, the virological and clinical pattern of chronic hepatitis B in Albania is similar to that observed in other Mediterranean countries; it seems to be independent of the HBV endemicity level. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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