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Revisiting the Natural History of Chronic Hepatitis B in Asian Americans

2009; Exeley Inc; Volume: 2; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7156/v2i3p111

2156-2342

Calvin Q. Pan, Betty Chiang,

Hepatitis C virus research

Worldwide, there are estimated to be 400 million people chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). In Asia, perinatal transmission of HBV from mother to newborn accounts for the high incidence of CHB infection Perinatally acquired CHB patients have unique features in their natural history, characterized by a long duration of immunotolerance phase, unpredictable patterns of disease reactivation and inactivation, and high risk for cirrhosis or HCC. Asian Americans, 60% of whom are foreign born, thus have similar patterns in the natural history of their disease. This article is a systemic review on the natural history of CHB in the Asian and Asian American population. Future research directions in this special population will also be explored. [N A J Med Sci. 2009;2(3):111-117.] Abbreviations:hepatitis B virus; HBIG, hepatitis B immunoglobulin; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAb, anti-HBsAg antibody; HBcAb, anti-hepatitis B core antibody; HBeAb, anti-HBeAg antibody; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; ALT, alanine aminotransferase ; AST aspartate aminotransferase.