TY - JOUR T1 - Identification of hepatitis B virus A1762T/G1764A double mutant strain in patients in Southern Brazil JO - The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases T2 - AU - Silva Souza,Adaliany Cecília da AU - Souza Marasca,Giórgia de AU - Kretzmann-Filho,Nélson Alexandre AU - Dall-Bello,Aline AU - Alexandre Kliemann,Dimas AU - Valle Tovo,Cristiane AU - Gorini da Veiga,Ana Beatriz SN - 14138670 M3 - 10.1016/j.bjid.2017.05.002 DO - 10.1016/j.bjid.2017.05.002 UR - https://bjid.org.br/en-identification-hepatitis-b-virus-a1762t-g1764a-articulo-S1413867017300582 AB - Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a worldwide public health problem. Chronic HBV infection with high viral replication may lead to cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. Mutant HBV strains, such as the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant, have been associated with poor prognosis and higher risk of the patient for developing cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma. This study analyzed the presence of the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant in patients with chronic HBV and its association with clinical parameters such as viral load, aminotransferases, and HBV antigens. A total of 49 patients with chronic hepatitis B were included in the study, and the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant strain was detected in four samples (8.16%) by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length analysis (PCR-RFLP). The viral load was not significantly different between patients with or without the double mutant strain (p=0.43). On the other hand, carriers of the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant had higher levels of ALT (p=0.0028), while AST levels did not differ between groups (p=0.051). In this study, 75% of the samples with the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutation were HBeAg negative and anti-HBe positive, reflecting seroconversion even though they still displayed high viral loads. Our study has shown that the HBV A1762T/G1764A double mutant strain circulates in Brazilian patients, and is associated with elevated levels of ALT and HBeAg seroconversion. ER -