الفهرس 
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Abstract
Hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). An estimated 2 billion people have been infected at some point and 350 million people across the world continue to carry chronic (long-term) infection. It is most commonly found in South East Asia, the Middle and Far East, Southern Europe and Africa. It is highly infectious, 50-100 times more so than HIV. Between 500,000 and 700,000 people die each year.
HBV is a leading risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with over eighty percent of HCC cases occurring in the regions where HBV is endemic. Approximately 30%–50% of the estimated 320,000 annual HBV-related deaths are due to hepatocellular.
In the present study, Seventy four patients from the center of cardiac and digestive system, and from Sohag general hospital, Sohag, Egypt, aged from 20 to 60 years old, between 2008 – 2010, were screened for HBs antigens and anti-HCV antibodies. Positive patients for HBs antigens were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
In this study, eight HBV samples were studied for the diversity and sequence variations in open reading frame of the surface antigen (S). The eight samples were divided into two groups (A and B), group A (with HCC) includes (HBV1, 7 and 8) and group B (without HCC) includes(HBV2, 3, 4, 5, and 6).
Upon phylogenetic tree, the five samples of group B were classified as genotype D (100%), but group A samples were classified as genotype D (66.6%) and CD (33.3%).
In group A (with HCC), 53 nucleotide variations and one nucleotide deletion was found in HBV1 and clustered with CD recombinant genotype sample JX036330.1 from China, that may be a new genotype from Egypt and this will require an in-depth exploration on sequence variability. Also,
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Summary
nucleotide variations were observed in HBV S gene in HBV7 and HBV8 samples (with HCC).
In group B samples (without HCC), some nucleotide variations in HBV S gene were observed. However, in this study, HCC were found in infections with different HBV genotypes (D and CD).
As well as, mutations in S gene sequence were observed in this study, especially in group (A), that may change the antiviral target site and virus replication.