Influences of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes, Core Promoter Mutations and HBeAg/anti-HBe Titers on HBV DNA Levels (original) (raw)

The influences of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and core promoter mutations (A 1762 G 1764 →T 1762 A 1764 ) on HBV DNA levels in HBV-infected serum were investigated. The correlations between the titers of HBV e antigen (HBeAg) and its corresponding antibody with HBV DNA levels were also studied. Seventy HBV-infected serum samples were utilized for the study. Genotyping, core promoter mutations and precore stop codon mutations were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragments length polymorphism (RFLP). Serological markers were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. HBV DNA levels were determined with real-time PCR. Our data did not yield significant correlation between HBV DNA with the genotypes B and C (median: 1.68 x 10 7 vs. 2.98 x 10 8 copies/mL; P=0.69) as well as with the core promoter mutations (median: 3.85 x 10 5 vs. 7.02 x 10 5 copies/mL; P=0.37). No precore stop codon mutant was detected in our study. HBeAg titers were positively correlated to HBV DNA levels (R 2 =0.2549; P=0.001) but this was not observed for its corresponding antibody (R 2 =0.0034; P=0.24). Our data suggest that viral genotypes and the core promoter mutations may not have a direct influence on HBV DNA levels.