Association of hepatitis B virus subgenotypes and basal core promoter/precore region variants with the clinical features of patients with acute hepatitis

摘要

In endemic areas, including Japan, basal core promoter (BCP) and precore (PC) variants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) have been reported to be associated with the clinical outcome of acute hepatitis B patients. However, the associations of BCP/PC variants with clinical outcomes have not been observed in nonendemic areas. HBV subgenotypes, which show geographic variations in prevalence, may underlie this discrepancy in clinical outcomes. Little is known about the differences in the clinical and virological features of HBV subgenotypes and BCP/PC variants. The aim of this study was to investigate the distributions of subgenotypes and BCP/PC variants to identify clinical differences in acute hepatitis B patients.