The role of mutations in core protein of hepatitis B virus in liver fibrosis

HBCVTr: an end-to-end transformer with a deep neural network hybrid model for anti-HBV and HCV activity predictor from SMILES

Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) are significant causes of chronic liver diseases, with approximately 350 million infections globally. To accelerate the finding of effective treatment options, we introduce HBCVTr, a novel ligand-based drug design (LBDD) method for predicting the inhibitory activity of small molecules against HBV and HCV. HBCVTr employs a hybrid model consisting of double encoders of transformers and a deep neural network to learn the relationship between small molecules' simplified molecular-input line-entry system (SMILES) and their antiviral activity against HBV or HCV. The prediction accuracy of HBCVTr has surpassed baseline machine learning models and existing methods, with R-squared values of 0.641 and 0.721 for the HBV and HCV test sets, respectively. The trained models were successfully applied to virtual screening against 10 million compounds within 240 h, leading to the discovery of the top novel inhibitor candidates, including IJN04 for HBV and IJN12 and IJN19 for HCV. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations identified IJN04, IJN12, and IJN19 target proteins as the HBV core antigen, HCV NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and HCV NS3/4A serine protease, respectively. Overall, HBCVTr offers a new and rapid drug discovery and development screening method targeting HBV and HCV.

Precore/core mutations of hepatitis B virus genotype D arising in different states of infection

Aim of the study

Precore/core variations and liver disease progression have been suggested. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of precore/core mutations in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients at various clinical stages.

Material and methods

In total, 73 HBV-infected patients including 26 inactive carriers (IC), 20 chronic active (CA), and 27 patients with liver cirrhosis/hepatocellular carcinoma (C/HCC) were randomly selected. The HBV DNA was extracted from the sera and subjected to nested PCR for amplification of precore/core region. The PCR product was then sequenced by the Sanger method.

Results

The stop codon of W28*(G1896A) was determined as the most prevalent mutation (55%) of the precore region. The comparison of groups also demonstrated that core substitutions at residues of S21, E40 and I105 (< 0.05) correlated with the development of the inactive carrier state. Furthermore, the total substitutions in Th epitopes (117-131) were significantly higher in the C/HCC group than the IC and CA groups (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

Our results indicated a high frequency of W28* mutation in HBV studied patients. Moreover, variations including S21, E40 and I105 and R151 that were mapped onto cellular epitopes might be related to inactive state development.

Hepatitis B virus: promising drug targets and therapeutic implications

Introduction: Current therapy for infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) rarely clears the virus, and viremia commonly resurges following treatment withdrawal. To prevent serious complications of the infection, research has been aimed at identifying new viral and host targets that can be exploited to inactivate HBV replication.Areas covered: This paper reviews the use of these new molecular targets to advance anti-HBV therapy. Emphasis is on appraising data from pre-clinical and early clinical studies described in journal articles published during the past 10 years and available from PubMed.Expert opinion: The wide range of viral and host factors that can be targeted to disable HBV is impressive and improved insight into HBV molecular biology continues to provide the basis for new drug design. In addition to candidate therapies that have direct or indirect actions on HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), compounds that inhibit HBsAg secretion, viral entry, destabilize viral RNA and effect enhanced immune responses to HBV show promise. Preclinical and clinical evaluation of drug candidates, as well as investigating use of treatment combinations, are encouraging. The field is poised at an interesting stage and indications are that reliably achieving functional cure from HBV infection is a tangible goal.

The Correlation Between Hepatitis B Virus Precore/Core Mutations and the Progression of Severe Liver Disease

Viral mutations acquired during the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are known to be associated with the progression and severity of HBV-related liver disease. This study of HBV-infected Saudi Arabian patients aimed to identify amino acid substitutions within the precore/core (preC/C) region of HBV, and investigate their impact on disease progression toward hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients were categorized according to the severity of their disease, and were divided into the following groups: inactive HBV carriers, active HBV carriers, liver cirrhosis patients, and HCC patients. Two precore mutations, W28^* and G29D, and six core mutations, F24Y, E64D, E77Q, A80I/T/V, L116I, and E180A were significantly associated with the development of cirrhosis and HCC. Six of the seven significant core mutations that were identified in this study were located within immuno-active epitopes; E77Q, A80I/T/V, and L116I were located within B-cell epitopes, and F24Y, E64D, and V91S/T were located within T-cell epitopes. Multivariate risk analysis confirmed that the core mutations A80V and L116I were both independent predictors of HBV-associated liver disease progression. In conclusion, our data show that mutations within the preC/C region, particularly within the immuno-active epitopes, may contribute to the severity of liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis. Furthermore, we have identified several distinct preC/C mutations within the study population that affect the clinical manifestation and progression of HBV-related disease. The specific identity of HBV mutations that are associated with severe disease varies between different ethnic populations, and so the specific preC/C mutations identified here will be useful for predicting clinical outcomes and identifying the HBV-infected patients within the Saudi population that are at high risk of developing HCC.

CD8+ T-Cell Response-Associated Evolution of Hepatitis B Virus Core Protein and Disease Progress

Under the immune pressure of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), hepatitis B virus (HBV) evolves to accumulate mutations more likely within epitopes to evade immune detection. However, little is known about the specific patterns of the immune pressure-associated HBV mutation of T-cell epitopes and their link to disease progression. Here, we observed a correlation of the accumulated variants on HBV core protein (HBc) with the disease severity of HBV infection. Further analysis indicated that these substitutions were mostly located within CD8⁺ T-cell epitopes of HBc protein, which were systematically screened and identified in an unbiased manner in our study. From individual peptide level to the human leukocyte antigen I (HLA-I)-restricted population level, we elucidated that the mutations in these well-defined HLA-I-restricted T-cell epitopes significantly decreased antiviral activity-specific CTLs and were positively associated with clinical parameters and disease progression in HBV-infected patients. The molecular pattern for viral epitope variations based on the sequencing of 105 HBV virus genomes indicated that the C-terminal portion (Pc), especially the Pc-1 and Pc-2 positions, have the highest mutation rates. Further structural analysis of HLA-A*02 complexed to diverse CD8⁺ T-cell epitopes revealed that the highly variable C-terminal bulged peak of M-shaped HBc-derived epitopes are solvent exposed, and most of the CDR3βs of the T-cell receptor hover over them. These data shed light on the molecular and immunological mechanisms of T-cell immunity-associated viral evolution in hepatitis B progression, which is beneficial for designing immunotherapies and vaccines.IMPORTANCE The specific patterns of sequence polymorphisms of T-cell epitopes and the immune mechanisms of the HBV epitope mutation-linked disease progression are largely unclear. In this study, we systematically evaluated the contribution of CD8⁺ T cells to the disease progress-associated evolution of HBV. By evaluation of patient T-cell responses based on the peptide repertoire, we comprehensively characterized the association of clinical parameters in chronic hepatitis B with the antiviral T-cell response-associated mutations of the viruses from the single-epitope level to the overall HLA-I-restricted peptide levels. Furthermore, we investigated the molecular basis of the HLA-A2-restricted peptide immune escape and found that the solvent-exposed C-terminal portion of the epitopes is highly variable under CDR3β recognition. Our work may provide a comprehensive evaluation of viral mutations impacted by the host CTL response in HBV disease progression in the context of the full repertoire of HBc-derived epitopes.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CD4 epitope mutations in the pre-core/core region of hepatitis B virus in chronic hepatitis B carriers in Northeast Iran

BACKGROUNDS

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is vulnerable to many various mutations. Those within epitopes recognized by sensitized T cells may influence the re-emergence of the virus. This study was designed to investigate the mutation in immune epitope regions of HBV pre-core/core among chronic HBV patients of Golestan province, Northeast Iran.

METHODS

In 120 chronic HBV carriers, HBV DNA was extracted from blood plasma samples and PCR was done using specific primers. Direct sequencing and alignment of the pre-core/core region were applied using reference sequence from Gene Bank database (Accession Number AB033559).

RESULTS

The study showed 27 inferred amino acid substitutions, 9 of which (33.3%) were in CD4 and 2 (7.4%) in cytotoxic T lymphocytes' (CTL) epitopes and 16 other mutations (59.2%) were observed in other regions.

CONCLUSIONS

CTL escape mutations were not commonly observed in pre-core/core sequences of chronic HBV carriers in the locale of study. It can be concluded that most of the inferred amino acid substitutions occur in different immune epitopes other than CTL and CD4.

The evaluation of fibrotic effects of the hepatitis B virus pre-core in hepatic stellate cells

The role of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) endogenous pre-core protein in liver fibrosis is controversial. Whether the expression of the pre-core induces the activation of human stellate cells (HSCs) has not yet been reported. Plasmids expressing HBx, or pre-core protein were transfected into LX-2 cells. Subsequently, total RNA extracted and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the fold change of collagen type I, α1 chain, α-smooth muscle actin and TIMP metalloproteinase inhibitor-1. Moreover, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in the supernatant of HSCs was evaluated by ELISA assay. In addition, a MTT assay was performed to test the cytotoxicity of the endogenous expression in LX-2 cells. None of the plasmids exhibited cytotoxic nor significant proliferative effects on LX-2 cells by MTT assessment. The gene expression analysis of fibrotic genes in LX-2 cells demonstrated that the pre-core protein presented no significant (P>0.05) fibrotic impact when compared to the empty control plasmid and HBx. The data from the TGF-β ELISA was consistent with the mRNA expression as detected with the control plasmid (P>0.05). The endogenous expression of the HBV pre-core exhibited no fibrotic impression in HSCs when compared to HBx.

Genogeography and Immune Epitope Characteristics of Hepatitis B Virus Genotype C Reveals Two Distinct Types: Asian and Papua-Pacific

Distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes/subgenotypes is geographically and ethnologically specific. In the Indonesian archipelago, HBV genotype C (HBV/C) is prevalent with high genome variability, reflected by the presence of 13 of currently existing 16 subgenotypes. We investigated the association between HBV/C molecular characteristics with host ethnicity and geographical distribution by examining various subgenotypes of HBV/C isolates from the Asia and Pacific region, with further analysis on the immune epitope characteristics of the core and surface proteins. Phylogenetic tree was constructed based on complete HBV/C genome sequences from Asia and Pacific region, and genetic distance between isolates was also examined. HBV/C surface and core immune epitopes were analyzed and grouped by comparing the amino acid residue characteristics and geographical origins. Based on phylogenetic tree and geographical origins of isolates, two major groups of HBV/C isolates—East-Southeast Asia and Papua-Pacific—were identified. Analysis of core and surface immune epitopes supported these findings with several amino acid substitutions distinguishing the East-Southeast Asia isolates from the Papua-Pacific isolates. A west-to-east gradient of HBsAg subtype distribution was observed with adrq+ prominent in the East and Southeast Asia and adrq- in the Pacific, with several adrq-indeterminate subtypes observed in Papua and Papua New Guinea (PNG). This study indicates that HBV/C isolates can be classified into two types, the Asian and the Papua-Pacific, based on the virus genome diversity, immune epitope characteristics, and geographical distribution, with Papua and PNG as the molecular evolutionary admixture region in the switching from adrq+ to adrq-.

Association of Mutations in the Basal Core Promoter and Pre-core Regions of the Hepatitis B Viral Genome and Longitudinal Changes in HBV Level in HBeAg Negative Individuals: Results From a Cohort Study in Northern Iran

BACKGROUND

Although certain HBV mutations are known to affect the expression of Hepatitis e antigen, their association with HBV viral level or clinical outcomes is less clear.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated associations between different mutations in the Basal Core promoter (BCP) and Pre-core (PC) regions of HBV genome and subsequent changes in HBV viral DNA level over seven years in a population of untreated HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) participants in Northeast of Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Participants in the current study were drawn from the Golestan Hepatitis B Cohort Study (GHBCS), a cohort of approximately 2590 HBsAg positive subjects (living in Gonbad city) embedded in the Golestan Cohort Study (GCS). At baseline, HBsAg was measured in all participants and revealed 2590 HBsAg positive cases. We randomly selected 304 participants who their blood sample were taken at both baseline and seven years later in follow-up and had not been treated for HBV during this time. HBV viral load were assessed at baseline and at year 7. The BCP and PC regions of the HBV DNA, at baseline, were amplified via hemi-nested PCR and sequenced by cycle sequencing. At year 7, liver stiffness was assessed by fibroscan; also, other parameters of liver disease were assessed following standard clinical protocols. Associations were assessed via tabulation, chi-square, t-tests and logistic regression. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant and all tests were two-sided.

RESULTS

Among 304 HBsAg positive participants, 99 had detectable HBV DNA at study baseline. Of these, 61.6% had PC mutations (48.5% A1896 and 25.2% G1899). In contrast to other mutations, A1896 was associated with a higher proportion of detectable HBV DNA at year 7 (39.6%) compared to patients with the wild type (13.7%) (OR: 4.36, CI95% = 1.63-11.70; P Value = 0.002). Although participants with the A1896 mutation had higher year-7 HBV viral load than participants with G1896 (2.30 ± 1.66 IU/mL vs. 1.76 ± 1 IU/mL among patients with detectable HBV; P value = 0.052), no association was observed with either serum level ALT or liver stiffness. Interestingly, mutations in the basal core promoter (BCP) region had no significant effect on virus DNA detection.

CONCLUSIONS

In this population with chronic HBeAg negative hepatitis B, an association was observed between the G1896A mutation in the Pre-core region of HBV and subsequent level of HBV DNA seven years later, which indicated that mutations in this region of HBV genome may contribute to disease progression in these patients and play an important role in HBV natural course of disease.

Immune-Regulatory Events in the Clearance of HBsAg in Chronic Hepatitis B: Focuses on HLA-DP

Successful clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a promising event in which host's immune system will attempt to get rid of the virus. The immunological events of HBsAg seroclearance have attracted great attention in both natural history investigations and therapeutic trials. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has confirmed polymorphisms in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DP locus associated with spontaneous HBV clearance. In this review the impact of host immune response in declining HBsAg during the natural history of the infection has been discussed.

Variations of serum levels of adiponectin and resistin in chronic viral hepatitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Several studies investigated the possible role of adipokines during chronic viral hepatitis, not producing defined results neither clearly establishing their behavior in course of anti-viral treatment. Our study evaluated blood concentrations of adiponectin and resistin in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), B (CHB), and D (CHD) receiving anti-viral treatment, at baseline and after therapy.

METHODS

We examined 122 subjects, divided into two groups: 64 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (38 males and 26 females, mean age 47.25 yr) and 58 patients including 39 ones with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (26 males and 13 females, mean age 48.46 yr) and 19 ones with chronic HBV-hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection (15 males and 4 females, mean age 45.79 yr). Serum levels of adiponectin and resistin were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

In the group of CHC patients we observed a significant decrease in resistin after therapy (p=0.006), while not a significant increase in adiponectin after treatment (p=0.32). Evaluation of changes in adiponectin and resistin levels after anti-viral treatment, both in responders and non-responders, revealed no significant variations. In the group of HBV+ and HBV-HDV+ patients, we found a decrease in resistin after therapy (p=0.0016) and a not significant reduction in adiponectin after treatment (p=0.13). Furthermore, we noticed a significant reduction of resistin (p=0.006) in the sub-group of responders.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggested the possible marker role of adiponectin and resistin in the inflammatory process in course of chronic viral hepatitis.

Fine mapping of hepatitis B virus pre-S deletion and its association with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Naturally occurring pre-S deletion mutants have been identified in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

AIMS

This study investigated whether specific deletions within the pre-S region were associated with HCC development.

METHODS

The virologic characteristics of 56 HBV chronic carriers and 112 age-matched patients with HBV-related HCC were examined.

RESULTS

The HCC patients had a significantly higher frequency of high viral load, basal core promoter mutation and pre-S deletion than chronic carriers. Sequencing analysis showed that the deleted regions were clustered mainly in the C terminus of pre-S1 (70.5%) and the N terminus of pre-S2 (72.7%) in HCC patients. Immuno-epitope mapping of these pre-S deletion sequences showed that all the deletion regions encompassed T- and B- cell epitopes and the B-cell epitope at amino acid 1-6 of pre-S2 was significantly deleted in HCC patients (60.0% vs. 0.0%; P = 0.036). Functional mapping of these deletion mutants showed that most of HCC patients lost one or more functional sites and the deletion of site for viral secretion (aa 1-5 of pre-S2 domain) was significantly detected in HCC patients than chronic carriers (62.5% vs. 0.0%; P = 0.029). Computational protein function prediction indicated that these mutants may have different molecular functions and participate in other biological processes compared with wild-type pre-S.

CONCLUSIONS

Deletion of B-cell epitope at amino acid 1-6 of pre-S2 region and the site for virion secretion are significantly associated with the development of HCC in HBV carriers.

Analysis of precore/core covariances associated with viral kinetics and genotypes in hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common DNA viruses that can cause aggressive hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although many people are persistently infected with HBV, the kinetics in serum levels of viral loads and the host immune responses vary from person to person. HBV precore/core open reading frame (ORF) encoding proteins, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and core antigen (HBcAg), are two indicators of active viral replication. The aim of this study was to discover a variety of amino acid covariances in responses to viral kinetics, seroconversion and genotypes during the course of HBV infection. A one year follow-up study was conducted with a total number of 1,694 clones from 23 HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients. Serum alanine aminotransferase, HBV DNA and HBeAg levels were measured monthly as criteria for clustering patients into several different subgroups. Monthly derived multiple precore/core ORFs were directly sequenced and translated into amino acid sequences. For each subgroup, time-dependent covariances were identified from their time-varying sequences over the entire follow-up period. The fluctuating, wavering, HBeAg-nonseroconversion and genotype C subgroups showed greater degrees of covariances than the stationary, declining, HBeAg-seroconversion and genotype B. Referring to literature, mutation hotspots within our identified covariances were associated with the infection process. Remarkably, hotspots were predominant in genotype C. Moreover, covariances were also identified at early stage (spanning from baseline to a peak of serum HBV DNA) in order to determine the intersections with aforementioned time-dependent covariances. Preserved covariances, namely representative covariances, of each subgroup are visually presented using a tree-based structure. Our results suggested that identified covariances were strongly associated with viral kinetics, seroconversion and genotypes. Moreover, representative covariances may benefit clinicians to prescribe a suitable treatment for patients even if they have no obvious symptoms at the early stage of HBV infection.

A computational approach to identify point mutations associated with occult hepatitis B: significant mutations affect coding regions but not regulative elements of HBV

BACKGROUND

Occult Hepatitis B Infection (OBI) is characterized by absence of serum HBsAg and persistence of HBV-DNA in liver tissue, with low to undetectable serum HBV-DNA. The mechanisms underlying OBI remain to be clarified. To evaluate if specific point mutations of HBV genome may be associated with OBI, we applied an approach based on bioinformatics analysis of complete genome HBV sequences. In addition, the feasibility of bioinformatics prediction models to classify HBV infections into OBI and non-OBI by molecular data was evaluated.

METHODS

41 OBI and 162 non-OBI complete genome sequences were retrieved from GenBank, aligned and subjected to univariable analysis including statistical evaluation. Their S coding region was analyzed for Stop codon mutations too, while S amino acid variability could be evaluated for genotype D only, due to the too small number of available complete genome OBI sequences from other genotypes.Prediction models were derived by multivariable analysis using Logistic Regression, Rule Induction and Random Forest approaches, with extra-sample error estimation by Multiple ten-fold Cross-Validation (MCV). Models were compared by t-test on the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC) distributions obtained from the MCV runs for each model against the best-performing model.

RESULTS

Variations in seven nucleotide positions were significantly associated with OBI, and occurred in 11 out of 41 OBI sequences (26.8%): likely, other mutations did not reach statistical significance due to the small size of OBI dataset. All variations affected at least one HBV coding region, but none of them mapped to regulative elements. All viral proteins, with the only exception of the X, were affected. Stop codons in the S, that might account for absence of serum HBsAg, were not significantly enriched in OBI sequences. In genotype D, amino acid variability in the S was higher in OBI than non-OBI, particularly in the immunodominant region. A Random Forest prediction model showed the best performance, but all models were not satisfactory in terms of specificity, due to the small sample size of OBIs; however results are promising in the perspective of a broader dataset of complete genome OBI sequences.

CONCLUSIONS

Data suggest that point mutations rarely occur in regulative elements of HBV, if ever, and contribute to OBI by affecting different viral proteins, suggesting heterogeneous mechanisms may be responsible for OBI, including, at least in genotype D, an escape mutation mechanism due to imperfect immune control. It appears possible to derive prediction models based on molecular data when a larger set of complete genome OBI sequences will become available.

The importance of hepatitis B virus genome diversity in Basal core promoter region

Hepadnaviruses employ an unusual strategy for the production of enormous number of virions during replication which makes rapid and substantial genetic sequence changes and alterations. The pathogenesis and clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are engaged by the selection and expression of viral mutants during virus-host interactions. Mutations in regulatory regions such as the basal core promoter (BCP) which is thought to be related to lower production of hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg) directly affects the clinical presentation of liver disease. However, the molecular structure of these mutations in chronic carriers has not been adequately evaluated. In this review we evaluate the molecular aspect and pathologic basis of basal core promoter mutations.

HBV core region variability: effect of antiviral treatments on main epitopic regions

BACKGROUND

Amino acid (AA) changes in specific hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) regions were assessed in patients infected with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) after a 12-month untreated period and after receiving antiviral therapy (interferon, lamivudine or adefovir dipivoxil), and in inactive hepatitis B surface antigen-positive carriers.

METHODS

Samples corresponding to different time points in 76 CHB cases (64 on-treatment) and 4 inactive carriers were included. The main precore mutation, T-helper immunodominant epitope at AA 50-69 (Th50-69), minor T-helper epitope (Th28-47), B-cell immunodominant epitope (B74-84) and a conserved region of HBcAg at AA 1-11 (AA1-11) were directly sequenced. For comparisons, the average number of AA changes in each region was standardized to 12 months (Av12).

RESULTS

AA changes clustered mainly in immunodominant regions (69%). The highest percentage of cases (%n) with changes and highest Av12 changes were detected after interferon treatment (%n=73%, Av12=3.1 in Th50-69 and %n=86%, Av12=2.7 in B74-84). At baseline, immunodominant regions had higher Av12 changes in hepatitis B e antigen-negative patients and those with main precore mutations. Changes in the Th28-47 region were more frequent after nucleoside/nucleotide analogue treatment (40%) than before treatment (9%). Codons 74 and 77 were the most polymorphic, and the double change E64D-N67T was significantly observed. Codon 84 substitutions were mainly associated with interferon treatment (P=0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Natural and treatment-induced substitutions in HBV core protein, occurring especially with interferon treatment, were characterized. Some immune-stimulating activity related to the minor Th28-47 epitope might be associated with nucleoside/nucleotide analogues; this activity was also seen in inactive carriers.

Hepatitis B virus core protein with hot-spot mutations inhibit MxA gene transcription but has no effect on inhibition of virus replication by interferon α

It has been reported that hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein (HBc) can inhibit the transcription of human interferon-induced MxA gene. In this study, we investigated whether HBc protein mutations at hot spots (L60V, S87G and I97L) could still inhibit MxA transcription and the potential significance of this inhibition in virus replication in vitro. Our data indicated that the IFN-induced MxA mRNA expression level and MxA promoter activity was significantly down-regulated by mutant protein of HBc(I97L), compared to WT and the other two mutated HBc proteins(L60V or S87G). However, in Huh7 cells stably expressing WT or the mutated HBc proteins (L60V, S87G or I97L), IFN-α could inhibit the extra- and intracellular HBV DNA level and HBsAg secretion to a similar level compared to that in cells transfected with control plasmids. In conclusion, HBc protein with I97L mutation may play an especial role in suppressing the transcription of MxA gene. Moreover, the inhibitory effect on MxA gene transcription by the WT or mutated HBc proteins (L60V, S87G and I97L) has no impact on inhibition of HBV replication by IFN-α in Huh7 cells. The clinical significance of the inhibitory effect of MxA gene transcription by HBc protein requires further study.

The inverse association of serum HBV DNA level with HDL and adiponectin in chronic hepatitis B infection

BACKGROUND

The natural history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is complex and influenced by the level of viral replication and host factors. The hepatoprotective role of high density lipoproteins (HDL) and adiponectin as host factors on HBV persistence is less well understood.

METHODS

To investigate correlation between HBV DNA level with clinical parameters in patients with chronic hepatitis B, 92 male subjects with HBV infection without any risk factors for diabetes were enrolled in this study. Age and BMI of the study population were matched and HBV DNA, ALT, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), adiponectin and lipid levels was measured.

RESULTS

Serum HBV DNA correlated inversely with serum HDL level (r = -0.23; P = 0.014). The median of log copies/ml for HBV DNA (3.67) was considered as cut off point. Patients with HBV DNA level higher than cut off point had lower adiponectin (8.7 ± 5.3 vs 10.7 ± 4.9 μg/ml p = 0.05). Also, adiponectin had a negative correlation with TNF-α (r = -0.21, P = 0.04) and positive correlations with HDL (r = 0.18, P = 0.043). Multivariate regression models show that serum HDL level is an independent factor to predict serum HBV DNA.

CONCLUSION

Our findings showed that higher HBV DNA levels are associated with lower HDL and adiponectin but induced TNF-alpha values.