Ton SH1, Iskandar K2, Mazlam Z3 and Thanaletchimy N 4
1. School of Engineering and Science, Monash University Malaysia
2. Department of Biochemistry, Medical Faculty, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3. Ampang Putri Specialist Hospital, Kuala Lumpur
4. Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang.
Correspondence: Dr Ton SH; e-mail:
CITATION: Ton SH, Iskandar K, Mazlam Z, Thanaletchimy N. Prevalence of nucleotide 1858 variants of Hepatitis B Virus in HBsAg-positive Malaysians. International Medical Research Journal. 2001;5(1):31–6.
ABSTRACT
Hepatitis B DNA (HBV-DNA) was determined in 265 HBsAg-positive individuals using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Out of this, 35.8% (95/265) were positive for the viral DNA. Precore variants were analyzed and T-1858 variant (CCT as codon 15) predominate significantly over C-1858 variant (82.1% versus 14.8%; p < 0.0001). No individual was infected exclusively by the TAG mutant (TGG ➔TAG at codon 28) but three individuals were co-infected by a mixture of wild type and the TAG mutant. Relation between T-1858/C-I 858 variants and HBeAg/anti-HBe status showed that 55.1 % of T-1858 infected individuals were anti-HBe positive, 39. J % were HBeAg positive and 5.1 % were negative for both HBeAg and anti-HBe. This is not significant (p > 0.05). Individuals infected by the C-1858 variant had more HBeAg positivity (64.3% versus 28.6%; p < 0.005). When the prevalence of T-1858 variant was compared in the asymptomatic individuals, individuals with chronic hepatitis B and individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma, it was observed that many more of the asymptomatic and HCC individuals were infected by this variant than the individuals with chronic hepatitis (p< 0.001). In conclusion it was found that Malaysians were infected mainly by the T-1858 variant compared with those in the Western European countries where C-1858 predominates. Low TAG mutation was seen in our population.
KEYWORDS: T-1858, C-1858 variant, TAG mutant
