Ma. Sardo et al., INAPPARENT WILD-TYPE AND E-MINUS VARIANT HBV INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH HCV-RELATED CHRONIC HEPATITIS, Liver, 14(5), 1994, pp. 241-244
We analysed DNA extracted from liver biopsy specimens and serum sample
s from 42 HCV-RNA-positive/HBsAg-negative subjects with chronic hepati
tis. Twenty-eight of them were anti-HBs/anti-HBc-positive (group A), w
hile 14 were negative for all HBV markers (group B). HBV sequences wer
e found in hepatic DNA of 12 cases (11 of group A, one of group B), bu
t in the serum of only two cases of group A. Sequencing analysis of pr
e-core region of HBV-DNA showed the presence of wild-type HBV in three
cases, HBeAg-defective HBV in three cases, and the coexistence of bot
h viral populations in six cases. These results indicate that HBV and
HCV infection may coexist in HBsAg-negative chronic hepatitis, particu
larly in anti-HBs/anti-HBc-positive patients. However, HBV replication
appears suppressed in these cases, and this state of latency may invo
lve both wild and HBeAg-defective HBV types.