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The Characteristic of HBV Quasispecies Is Related to Occult HBV Infection of Infants Born to Highly Viremic Mothers

Authors :
Yi Li
Yarong Song
Yiwei Xiao
Tong Wang
Lili Li
Minmin Liu
Jie Li
Jie Wang
Source :
Viruses, Vol 16, Iss 7, p 1104 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Although a combination of immunoprophylaxis and antiviral therapy can effectively prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV), a considerable number of infants born to highly viremic mothers still develop occult HBV infection (OBI). To uncover the virological factor and risk predictor for OBI in infants, we found that the diversity and complexity of maternal HBV quasispecies in the case group were lower than those in the control group. Mutations with significant differences between the two groups were most enriched in the NTCPbd and PreC regions. Genetic distance at the amino-acid level of the PreC region, especially the combination of three amino-acid mutations in the PreC region, could strongly predict the risk of OBI in infants. HBV quasispecies in OBI infants were highly complex, and the non-synonymous substitutions were mainly found in the RT and HBsAg regions. The sK47E (rtQ55R) and sP49L mutations in OBI infants might contribute to OBI through inhibiting the production of HBV DNA and HBsAg, respectively. This study found the potential virological factors and risk predictors for OBI in infants born to highly viremic mothers, which might be helpful for controlling OBI in infants.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19994915
Volume :
16
Issue :
7
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Viruses
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.9cb0bba3b4284bfeb4c11964ef4cfdaa
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/v16071104