Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-1-30
pubmed:abstractText
The precore region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is indispensable for secretion of e antigen protein. Therefore, the precore stop codon mutants may play an important role in the process of e antigen seroconversion. However, the presence of the mutants in hepatitis B e antigen positive carriers has not been fully studied because of difficulties in detecting the mutants in the presence of large amounts of wild-type viruses. To overcome this, a sensitive method has been developed to detect the presence of G to A stop codon mutants at codon 28 of precore region. Primers for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were devised to introduce restriction enzyme site Sty I for wild-type viruses and Dde I for the mutants. The amplification products with these primers were digested with Sty I to exclude the products from wild-type viruses. The remaining amplicon from precore mutants were re-amplified, and the presence of precore mutant was confirmed with Dde I digestion. The presence of precore mutants was examined in 61 HBV carriers by the method combining PCR and restriction enzyme digestion. Approximately 0.1% of precore mutant DNA among 10(6) copies of wild-type virus DNA was detectable by this method. The presence of the precore mutants was detected in seven of 10 (70%) e antigen positive asymptomatic carriers, and in 29 of 36 (81%) e antigen positive patients with chronic liver diseases, and in all 15 (100%) anti-e antibody positive patients with chronic liver diseases. This study revealed that a small amount of the precore mutants was present in the majority of HBV carriers.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0815-9319
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
10
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
419-25
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:articleTitle
Detection of hepatitis B virus precore stop codon mutants by selective amplification method: frequent detection of precore mutants in hepatitis B e antigen positive healthy carriers.
pubmed:affiliation
First Department of Medicine, Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study