Phylogenetic analyses of HBV pre-s/s genes in mother-child pairs with long-term infection by presumed vertical transmission

The effectiveness of 20 μg hepatitis B vaccine used for the prevention of HBV vertical transmission

To evaluate the efficiency of a 20 μg hepatitis B vaccine(HepB) for disease prevention in two counties in Henan Province, China. A questionnaire was designed to examine the information of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive pregnant women, and their blood samples were collected to test for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), hepatitis B e antibody, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA. Three doses of 20 μg HepB and one dose of hepatitis B immune globulin(HBIG) were administered to newborns. Blood samples were collected from children one month after their complete immunization to test for HBsAg and hepatitis B surface antibody(HBsAb). A total of 419 HBsAg positive-pregnant women and 430 newborns were investigated. The average age of pregnant women was 29.6 ± 4.3 years, with an HBeAg positive rate of 29.1% (122/419). All newborns received their first dose of 20 μg hepatitis B vaccine and 100 IU HBIG within 12 h after birth. Six infants (1.9%, 6/319) tested positive for HBsAg and negative for HBsAb after one month of receiving the three basic doses of HepB. The geometric mean concentration(GMC) of HBsAb-positive infants was 861.6 mIU/mL, and their HBsAb antibody titers decreased with age. Immunization of children born to HBsAg-positive mothers with 20 μg HepB got the satisfactory effect on preventing mother-to-child transmission.

Cesarean section in reducing mother-to-child HBV transmission: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

A meta-analysis (MA) of natural vs. cesarean births in HBV infected mothers was performed to assess which delivery methods could minimize the mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of Hepatitis B virus (HBV).

METHODS

Electrical databases PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for the English papers about the HBV MTCT up to 19 August 2019. STATA 11.0 software was used for all analysis. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to present the effect size for MTCT at birth and MTCT more than 6 months. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the chi-squared Q and I ² test to determine the use of random effects model or fixed effects model.

RESULTS

A total of 19 articles involving 11,144 HBV-positive pregnant women (5251 underwent natural delivery and 5893 received a cesarean section) were included in the study. The pooled OR for MTCT at birth was 0.42, 95% CI: 0.23-0.76 based on random effect model (I ² = 69.9%, p = .019). Meanwhile, in fixed effect model (I ² = 0.0%, p = .470), the pooled OR for MTCT more than 6 months was 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48-0.81. The results indicated that HBV infection in cesarean births significantly lower than that of vaginal delivery. Subgroup analysis of MTCT more than 6 months was clearly, and the results indicated that cesarean section significantly reduced the risk of MTCT (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48-0.81, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Cesarean section can reduce the risk of HBV MTCT and should be employed as a preventive measure. Due to the limitations of this study, further multi-center, large-sample randomized controlled trials must be performed to confirm these findings.

Three types of preS1 start codon deletion variants in the natural course of chronic hepatitis B infection

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Naturally occurring hepatitis B virus variants carrying a deletion in the preS1 start codon region may evolve during long-lasting virus-host interactions in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The aim of this study was to determine the immune phase-specific prevalent patterns of preS1 start codon deletion variants and related factors during the natural course of CHB.

METHODS

A total of 399 CHB patients were enrolled. Genotypic analysis of three different preS1 start codon deletion variants (classified by deletion size: 15-base pair [bp], 18-bp, and 21-bp deletion variants) was performed.

RESULTS

PreS1 start codon deletion variants were detected in 155 of 399 patients (38.8%). The predominant variant was a 15-bp deletion in the immune-tolerance phase (18/50, 36%) and an 18-bp deletion in the immune-clearance phase (69/183, 37.7%). A 21-bp deletion was the predominant variant in the low replicative phase (3/25, 12.0%) and reactivated hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg)-negative phase (22/141, 15.6%). The 15-bp and 18-bp deletion variants were more frequently found in HBeAg-positive patients (P < 0.010 and P < 0.001, respectively), whereas the 21-bp deletion variant was more frequently found in HBeAg-negative patients (P < 0.001). On multiple logistic regression analyses, the 21-bp deletion variant was independently associated with liver cirrhosis (P = 0.006), and the 15-bp deletion variant was significantly related to an incomplete response to antiviral agents (P = 0.012).

CONCLUSIONS

The predominant type of preS1 start codon deletion variants changes according to the immune phases of CHB infection, and each variant type is associated with different clinical parameters. PreS1 start codon deletion variants might interact with the host immune response differently according to their variant types.