Few data are available on the levels of HBV DNA in liver tissue of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, HBV DNA was quantitated by a TaqMan real-time PCR method and results were normalised to an endogenous reference gene. The assay could detect reproducibly viral sequences from over 10(7) to less than 50 copies/microg of liver DNA. The HBV DNA content in liver samples from 11 HBsAg-positive patients (median: 10(5) copies/microg of DNA) was significantly higher (P < 0.001) compared to the viral DNA concentration detected in liver samples from 15 of 25 HBsAg-negative patients (median: 2.6 x 10(2) copies/microg). A liver DNA amount > or =1 HBV DNA copy per cell was detected in half of tissue samples from HBsAg-positive patients, and in none from HBsAg-negative ones. Liver tissue HBV DNA content was significantly higher in anti-HCV-negative than in anti-HCV-positive cases (P < 0.001). These results show that the quantitation of liver HBV DNA by real-time PCR can be useful to understand HBV state in hepatocellular carcinoma and viral interplay in patients with multiple viral infections.
Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.