English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

It is relatively rare for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to develop in patients that are serologically negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) or antihepatitis C virus antibody (HCV-Ab). In addition, hepatitis B virus (HBV) is sometimes detected and associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in HCC cases without HBsAg and HCV-Ab (NBNC-HCC). In this study we focused on the characteristics of resected NBNC-HCC, and occult HBV infection in resected liver tissues was also examined in these cases. A total of 32 cases (26 males and 6 females, median age 65.7±13.9 years) that underwent liver resection were enrolled in this study. Clinical data from 19 cases with NBNC-HCC were compared with those from 13 cases of HCC related to hepatitis viruses (HV-HCC). Subsequently, occult HBV infection was assessed by the detection of HBV-DNA from extracted liver tissue in NBNC-HCC. Mutation and variation were also examined by the PCR-direct sequencing method in the occult HBV cases. The average diameter of NBNC-HCC was significantly larger than that of HV-HCC. In addition, the activity and fibrosis scores of the surrounding liver tissues were significantly higher in HV-HCC. Among 19 cases of NBNC-HCC, HBV-DNA was detected in 7. Four out of the 7 cases were detected in the Pre-S/S region. The insertion of four amino acids in the α-loop region was detected in 1 case. No significant difference between the occult HBV cases and the others was found in NBNC-HCC. All cases were classified into genotype C on phylogenetic analysis. HBV-DNA was frequently detected in the liver tissues of NBNC-HCC. Thus, our data revealed that HBV may be associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in cases of occult HBV infection. Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be a fatal, and chronic infection caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is usually related to hepatocarcinogenesis. Globally, HBV carriers are estimated to total 3 million, and approximately 1 million people suffer from HBV-related HCC (1). HBV is an oncogenic virus which integrates with the genome of hepatocytes. The quantity of HBV-DNA is strongly associated with the generation of HCC (2,3). In general, the diagnosis of HBV infection is based on the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the serum. However, it was recently reported that HBV-DNA is periodically detected in the serum or liver and is recognized as occult HBV infection (4,5). In particular, HBcAb positivity is thought to be a latent risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis, since the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of HBV is responsible for the persistent HBV infection of hepatocytes in these cases (6,7). In order to examine the clinical characteristics of HCC negative for HBsAg and the anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV-Ab) (NBNC-HCC) and HBV-DNA in relation to hepatocarcinogenesis in NBNC-HCC, 32 cases of resected HCC were analyzed. Materials and methods Sample collection. Thirty-two cases of HCC (26 males and 6 females, median age 65.7 years) that underwent surgical resection in Kobe University and related hospitals were enrolled in this study. Clinical characteristics including age, gender, biochemical data and surrounding liver tissues were examined. Histological features were graded according to the New Inuyama Classification (8). Analysis of occult HBV infection. To examine occult HBV infection in HBsAg-negative cases, DNA was extracted in 12 cases from surrounding liver tissues using the QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Tokyo, Japan). The detection of HBV-DNA was carried out by employing PCR analysis using specific primers (9,10). PCR products were directly sequenced using an ABI PRISM® 3100 Avant Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), and nucleotide alignClinical significance of hepatitis B virus-DNA in hepatocellular carcinoma negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen SHINPEI TATEIwA1, YoSHIHIKo YANo2, YASUSHI SEo2, AKIRA MIKI2, KAwANo YUUKI2, TAKESHI AzUMA2 and YoSHITAKE HAYASHI1 1Center for Infectious Disease, 2Division of Gastroenterology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan Received November 11, 2009; Accepted December 22, 2009 DOI: 10.3892/etm_53 Correspondence to: Dr Yoshihiko Yano, Center for Infectious Disease, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 6-5-1 Chuo-ku, Kusunoki-cho, Kobe 650-0017, Japan E-mail: yanoyo@med.kobe-u.ac.jp