Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Preliminary study on the relationship between recurrence and quasispecies characteristics in P region of hepatitis B virus genome of chronic hepatitis B patients treated with lamivudine

Baojian Wang¹, Bobin Hu², Jianning Jiang² , Minghua Su², Xiaoli Wu¹, Shaohua Zhong³, Yanxiu Liang¹, Shihua Li⁴, Rong Xie⁵

¹Department of Gastroenterology, Minzu Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning 530001, China; ²Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China; ³Department of Infectious Diseases, Hainan Provincial People's Hospital, Haikou 570311, China; ⁴Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China; ⁵Department of Gastroenterology, The First People’s Hospital of Nanning, Nanning 530022, China.

For correspondence:- Jianning Jiang Email: 13471047130@163.com

Accepted: 5 October 2023 Published: 31 October 2023

Citation: Wang B, Hu B, Jiang J, Su M, Wu X, Zhong S, et al. Preliminary study on the relationship between recurrence and quasispecies characteristics in P region of hepatitis B virus genome of chronic hepatitis B patients treated with lamivudine. Trop J Pharm Res 2023; 22(10):2185-2192 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v22i10.21

© 2023 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the characteristics of quasispecies in the P region of hepatitis B viral (HBV) DNA of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with lamivudine (LAM), and its effect on HBV relapse after drug withdrawal in CHB patients who met drug cessation criteria.

Methods: A total of 43 patients with chronic HBV infection, who had undergone LAM therapy, were enrolled in this study. Treatment was discontinued for patients who met therapeutic criteria set by relevant Asian-Pacific regions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the genome in P region of serum rcDNA before treatment, cccDNA during drug cessation period, and serum rcDNA at relapse. Quasispecies cloning and sequencing were performed to identify variable sites in HBV P region.

Results: Mutations in P region of baseline serum rcDNA were detected in 30 CHB patients, with N/H238T (14/30), L/F/Q/R267H (12/30), V278T (12/30), D134E/I (11/30), and T222A (9/30) having highest rates. In hepatocellular cccDNA P region during drug withdrawal, most detectable mutations were L/F/Q/R267H (25/43), V278T (18/43), N/H238T (15/43), D134E/I (14/43), and T222A (11/43). During relapse, the highest detectable mutation rates in serum rcDNA P region were N/H238T (12/19), L/F/Q/R267H (10/19), T222A (10/19), and V278T (8/19).

Conclusion: High mutation rates of T222A and N/H238T in P region of HBV DNA increase the risk of relapse in patients. As a result, patients are susceptible to relapse after drug withdrawal.

Keywords: Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatocellular cccDNA, Mutation