Hepatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hepatitis, including details on hepatitis a, b, c, causes, symptoms.

Levels of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication during the nonreplicative phase: HBV quantification by real-time PCR in Korea.

Yim HJ, Byun KS, Chang YJ, Suh YS, Yeon JE, Lee CH, Kwon JA, Yoo W, Kim SO, Hong SP

Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

The levels of HBV replication in the nonreplicative phase are not clear. We conducted this study to evaluate the levels of viral replication during the nonreplicative phase in chronic HBV-infected Korean patients using real-time PCR. A total of 125 patients were classified into three groups: inactive HBsAg carriers, inactive liver cirrhosis patients, and resolved chronic HBV-infected patients with loss of HBsAg. The real-time PCR detected HBV DNA in 112 cases (89.6%). The mean levels of HBV DNA were 3.84, 4.10, and 3.31 log copies/ml in the three groups, respectively (P <0.01). Ninety-five percent of inactive HBsAg carriers showed levels of HBV DNA lower than 6 x 10(4) copies/ml. In conclusion, we showed different levels of HBV DNA exactly in three groups during nonreplicative phases. We suggest that the cutoff level of HBV DNA in inactive HBsAg carriers should be readjusted to a lower level in future studies.

Published 9 August 2007 in Dig Dis Sci, 52(9): 2403-9.
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