Journal article

Molecular and Clinical Characteristics of Hepatitis B Virus in Korea

Sang Hoon Ahn, Lilly Yuen, Kwang-Hyub Han, Margaret Littlejohn, Hye Young Chang, Hans Damerow, Anna Ayres, Jeong Heo, Stephen Locarnini, Peter A Revi

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY | WILEY | Published : 2010

Abstract

Korea is an endemic area of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection but very little is known about the molecular characteristics of HBV isolates from Korean patients or the association with disease progression. The complete HBV genome sequences from 53 Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B, advanced cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed to identify (i) subgenotype distribution and genetic diversity and (ii) signature mutations associated with liver disease progression. With the exception of 1 patient infected with HBV/B, all 52 patients (98.1%) were infected with HBV/C, subgenotype C2. These strains were 98.4% identical and the frequency of amino acid substitutions occurrin..

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