• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.3232-3238
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• 2014

Mollugin has been reported to have various biological activities including antineoplastic, antitumor, antiviral against the hepatitis B virus, anti-aging and antimutagenic activities. An effective and concise synthesis of mollugin in two steps including kinetic control from the cheap starting material 1,4-naphthoquinone has been introduced, and mollugin derivatives thus prepared are screened for their inhibition ability against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the dihydrobenzochromene structure might be an additional anti-HCV agent as a new leading compound.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 1997

Most of the current licenced hepatitis B vaccines are being produced by recombinant DNA technology in large fermentation cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae of yeast cells which carry the gene coded for hepatitis B virus surface antigen. These vaccines are proved very effective clinically and the immunogenicity of vaccines could be maintained for a long time under refrigeration. To develope the stabilizer that could increase the stability of hepatitis B virus vaccine which could be stored for a long period at room temperature or higher conditions, glucose, lactose and sucrose solutions in phosphate buffered saline were added into hepatitis B vaccine respectively to make 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% final concentration in vaccines. These sugar-vaccine mixtures were stored at room temperature for one month, two months and three months respectively and then inoculated into ICR mice intramuscularly. On the fourteenth day after inoculation, mice were bled and sera were tested for the evaluation of efficacies of vaccines. The results showed that 5% glucose, 7.5% lactose and sucrose increased the stability of vaccines in some degree and this method could be applied for the production of other viral vaccines and bacterial vaccines.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2014

Purpose: The spontaneous seroconversion rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection in children is lower than that in adults. However, few studies have investigated the rate of transition from the immune-tolerant to the early immune-clearance phase in children. Methods: From February 2000 to August 2011, we enrolled 133 children aged <18 years who had visited the Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University Hospital. All subjects were in the immune-tolerant phase of HBeAg-positive CHB virus infection. The estimated transition rate into the early immune-clearance phase was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Among the 133 enrolled pediatric CHB virus infection patients in the HBeAg-positive immune-tolerant phase, only 21 children (15.8%) had converted to the early immune-clearance phase. The average age at entry into active hepatitis was $10.6{\pm}4.8$ years. The incidence of transition from the immune-tolerant to the early immune-clearance phase in these children was 1.7 episodes/100 patient-years. When analyzed by age, the estimated transition rate was 4.6%, 7.1%, and 28.0% for patients aged <6, 6-12, >12 years, respectively. Conclusion: In children with CHB virus infection, the estimated rate of entry into the early immune-clearance phase was 28.0% for patients aged 12-18 years, which was significantly higher than that observed for children aged <12 years (11.7%; p=0.001).

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2008

Comprehensive understanding of the natural course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is mandatory for the management and treatment of chronic hepatitis B, of which the natural course consists of immune tolerance, immune clearance, inactive carrier state, and reactivation phase. Evidence based medical approach is essential for the management of HBV carriers and treatment of active hepatitis to decrease risks of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma as well as to increase survival. In addition, education of patients or their parents are required to achieve a better therapeutic outcome and to prevent unconfirmed alternative medicine and anecdotal approaches.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1385-1389
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• 2005

Human hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a pathogen related to the development of liver diseases including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the efficient methods to suppress HBV replication have not been developed yet. Therefore, we have used RNA interference (RNAi) as a potential tool for the suppression of HBV replication. Here, we designed a 21 nt small intefering dsRNA (siRNA) against hepatitis B virus X (HBx) RNA with 3' overhanging ends derived from T7 promoter. It has been reported that HBV X protein plays an important role in HBV gene expression and viral replication. The suppression of HBx gene expression by the 21 nt siRNA was investigated by Northern blot analysis and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) assay. The level of HBx mRNA was decreased by siRNA in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that the 21 nt siRNA inhibited the HBV replication in hepatocellular carcinoma cell.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2009

Purpose: The study aimed at monitoring the immune status of health care workers (HCWs) of a tertiary hospital after accidental exposure to Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods: Between January 2004 and December 2006, 353 cases of exposure to Hepatitis B virus were reported. The HBV-exposed HCWs were required to undergo follow-up serum tests to analyze their immune status one year after the exposure. The obtained data were then analyzed to determine the incidence of exposure and of sero-conversion. Results: In this hospital, an average of 9.8 cases of Hepatitis B exposure among HCWs was reported in a month. Follow-up tests conducted after exposure revealed that 90.4% of the HBV-exposed HCWs were positive for Hepatitis B antibody and 66.9% of the HBV-exposed HCWs were reported to have antibody levels exceeding 10 mIU/mL. Results of serum tests for the HBV antigen conducted one year after exposure were negative for all the exposed HCWs. Conclusion: Among the 79.6% of the HCWs who underwent serum tests one year after exposure the HBV sero-conversion rate was 0.0%. However, a further investigation in the form of long-term and multi-center studies is required to confirm this result. Furthermore, an active system should be established to ensure that all exposed HCWs undergo follow-up serum tests.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.708-714
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• 2001

Many studies have provided evidences that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) including preS region could be an ideal candidate for a new hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine with higher efficacy. We established CHO cell lines, IY-CHO-2 and IY-CHO-11 expressing high levels of HBsAg containing preS2 and S protein by stable transfection method. These cell lines expressed the correct size (about 1 kb in length) of HBsAg mRNA as expected. The purified protein from the culture supernatants of the clones showed the same sizes as those expressed in native hepatitis B virus (24 kDa, 27 kDa, 34 kDa and 36 kDa). Antibody productivity of CHO-derived HBsAg protein at lower dose challenge was higher than the protein containing S region alone expressed in yeast system. These results indicate that CHO-derived HBsAg protein containing preS2 and S region can be effectively used for a better immune response as a HBV vaccine.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.430-433
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• 2018

Hepatitis B is a major health problem in China. However, little is known about the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Kaifeng, the major urban capital of Henan province, China. We found that HBV prevalence increased with age and that chronic HBV was predominant in adult males in Kaifeng. The HBV prevalence remained unchanged over a 5-year period for all age groups. Alarmingly, 25% of the population remained unvaccinated and potentially susceptible to future HBV infection. HBV immunization and health education initiatives should be carried out in this population to further reduce the overall prevalence of HBV.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.21 no.1 s.23
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• pp.31-46
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• 1988

In order to designate a present status necessary for establishment of preventive measures and guidelines of health education against hepatitis B in the course of secondary school education, knowledge and practice toward hepatitis B virus infection was surveyed by a questionnare method on total of 4,855 college entrants in the academic year of 1987 and analyzed the data collected using IBM PC(Trigem 88-II) with SAS package program. About two per cent of college entrants had past history of HBV infections not showing any difference between both sexes and geographical regions. About one third(33.7%) of total students had tested hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg), only 4% had tested hepatitis B surface antibody(HBsAb) and vaccination rate amounted to 24.6%, one fourth of total subjects. Both serological tests and vaccination were most commonly performed during adolescence, showing higher rates in female students than in male students. The rates also seemed to be higher in those from urban cities than those from rural cities. Students who had acquired correct knowledge that hepatitis B was infected by virus were amounted to 78.5% of college entrants, and remaining 21.5% had misunderstood that rickettsia, bacteria, fungi or parasites were causal agents. Female students were better aware of the causal agents than male students but there was no difference between places of growth. As for mode of transmission of HBV, 51.5% of male students and 47.7% of female students had correct knowledge. A very few student had known that fact that HBV was transmitted by body fluids such as tear(6.9%), nasal discharge(10.1%) and semen or vaginal secretion(19.2%) and majority(75%) of students had misunderstood that hepatitis B virus would be transmitted per os through food ingestion. Approximately one half(48.9%) of college entrants had knew correctly whom to be vaccinated. Approximately one half of the students knew that hepatr;ma(57.8%) and liver cirrhosis(57.4%) might complicate with hepatitis B virus infection, whereas 12.0% of the students responded that bronchitis was one of the complications of hepatitis B infection. In summary of the above results, we highly recommend that health education program for eradication of hepatitis B virus infection should be introduced in curricula of secondary school education in this country.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.257-271
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• 2017

Purpose: The hepatitis B virus is a major cause of chronic liver disease. The clinical guidelines recommend that inactive chronic hepatitis (ICH) patients also check their liver function every 6 to 12 months and manage the potential risks. This study compared the hepatitis B knowledge, self-care practice, and quality of life in patients with HBV according to the disease activity. Methods: This study was conducted in a university hospital and surveyed on 65 ICH patients and 68 progressive chronic liver disease (PCLD) patients from November in 2012 to September in 2013. Results: The knowledge of hepatitis B was lower in the group of a lately perceived HBV infection and ICH. Self-care practice was lower in the male and the patients group with a perceived HBV infection within 5 years. The "taking regular liver function test" score was lower in the ICH. Eight out of 12 Liver Disease Quality of Life instrument (LDQOL) subscales were lower in PCLD. Conclusion: The hepatitis B knowledge and self-care practice are relatively lacking in ICH and the patients group with a perceived HBV infection within 5 years. More effective education programs will be necessary to enhance the hepatitis B knowledge and self-care for patients with HBV and even for ICH.