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Clinical significance of pre‐S mutations in patients with genotype C hepatitis B virus infection
Author(s) -
Choi M. S.,
Kim D. Y.,
Lee D. H.,
Lee J. H.,
Koh K. C.,
Paik S. W.,
Rhee J. C.,
Yoo B. C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2006.00784.x
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , genotype , hepatitis b virus , mutation , cirrhosis , virology , biology , liver disease , asymptomatic , asymptomatic carrier , medicine , hepatitis b , clinical significance , virus , gastroenterology , gene , genetics
Summary. We investigated the overall and site‐specific prevalence of pre‐S mutations and its clinical significance in patients with genotype C hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Three hundred subjects were included: 50 asymptomatic carriers (AC), 87 chronic hepatitis (CH), 91 liver cirrhosis (LC) and 72 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Pre‐S mutations were determined by nucleotide sequence analysis. Possible correlations between pre‐S mutations and clinical/virological parameters were examined. Pre‐S mutations were detected in 82 cases (27.3%); it was more frequently found in HCC (43.1%) and LC (35.2%) group than in the CH (20.7%) and AC (2.0%) group. Pre‐S2 deletion was the most commonly found mutation (10.7%), followed by pre‐S2 start codon mutation (9.7%), pre‐S1–S2 deletion (3.0%) and both pre‐S2 deletion and start codon mutation (2.7%). Pre‐S2 deletion and pre‐S2 start codon mutation were more frequently detected in advanced diseases (LC and HCC). Pre‐S mutations were associated with older age and higher rates of positive HBV DNA (≥0.5 pg/mL). Advanced disease and positive HBV DNA were shown to be independent predictors of pre‐S mutations by logistic regression analysis. These findings suggest that pre‐S mutations, especially pre‐S2 deletions and pre‐S2 start codon mutations, are common in patients with genotype C HBV infection and are associated with advanced liver disease and active viral replication.