Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects the liver; [1] [6] it is a type of viral hepatitis. [7] It can cause both acute and chronic infection . [ 1 ]
The structure of hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B virus is a member of the Hepadnavirus family. [11] The virus particle, called Dane particle [12] (), consists of an outer lipid envelope and an icosahedral nucleocapsid core composed of protein.
It was discovered to be part of the virus that caused serum hepatitis by virologist Alfred Prince in 1968. Heptavax, a "first-generation" hepatitis B vaccine in the 1980s, was made from HBsAg extracted from the blood plasma of hepatitis patients. More modern vaccines are made from recombinant HBsAg grown in yeast.
A precore mutant is a variety of hepatitis B virus that does not produce hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg). [1] These mutants are important because infections caused by these viruses are difficult to treat, [2] and can cause infections of prolonged duration and with a higher risk of liver cirrhosis. [3]
Hepatitis D is a defective virus that requires hepatitis B to replicate and is only found with hepatitis B co-infection. [17] In adults, hepatitis B infection is most commonly self-limiting, with less than 5% progressing to chronic state, and 20 to 30% of those chronically infected developing cirrhosis or liver cancer. [31]
The presence of surface antibody (anti-HBs) indicates an individual with immunity to hepatitis B, whether due to previously resolved infection or due to hepatitis B vaccination. [65] For example, an individual who has never had any exposure to HBV, either by vaccine or by infection, would test negative for the entire serology panel.
Hepatitis D is caused by the hepatitis D virus (HDV), or hepatitis delta virus; it belongs to the genus Deltavirus. HDV is similar to a satellite virus as it can only propagate in the presence of the hepatitis B virus, depending on the helper function of HBV for its replication and expression. It has no independent life cycle, but can survive ...
The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase is a multifunctional enzyme, with both RNA-dependent and DNA-dependent polymerase functions, as well as an RNase H function. It acts on the HBV pre-genomic RNA (pgRNA) to reverse transcribe it to form a new rcDNA molecule within a new capsid.