Abstract
To confirm the possibility that some hepatitis B virus (HBV) variants do not induce HB s antigen (HBsAg), anti-HB core antibody (anti-HBc) and anti-HBc IgM in a transient infection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed in 20 patients with acute hepatitis and 7 patients with fulminant hepatitis. Patients were diagnosed with non-A, non-B hepatitis by serological markers at admission. PCR successfully amplified the precore/core gene in 5 (25%) of the patients with acute hepatitis and 2 (29%) of the patients with fulminant hepatitis. Subsequent sequencing revealed frequent mutations including precore-defects in the precore/core gene.
MeSH terms
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Acute Disease
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Adult
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Base Sequence
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DNA, Viral / genetics*
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Female
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Genome, Viral*
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Hepatitis Antibodies / analysis
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Hepatitis Antibodies / immunology
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Hepatitis B / genetics*
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Hepatitis B / immunology*
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Hepatitis B Core Antigens / analysis
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Hepatitis B Core Antigens / immunology
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Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / analysis
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Hepatitis B virus / genetics*
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Humans
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Immunoglobulin M / analysis
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Middle Aged
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Mutation*
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Radioimmunoassay
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Viral Core Proteins / genetics
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Viral Core Proteins / immunology
Substances
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DNA, Viral
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Hepatitis Antibodies
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Hepatitis B Core Antigens
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Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
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Immunoglobulin M
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Viral Core Proteins