studies

HEPATOLOGY, VOLUME 62, NUMBER 1 (SUPPL) AASLD ABSTRACTS 1025A
1674
Long-term follow-up study of hepatitis delta virus quasispecies
complexity
Maria Homs 1,2 , Maria Buti 1,3 , Alicia Ruiz 4 , Pilar Reimundo 4 , Josep
Gregori 5 , Maria Blasi 1,2 , Rosario Casillas 5 , David Tabernero 1,2 ,
Marta Vila 5 , Leonardo Nieto 2 , Josep Quer 1,5 , Mar Riveiro-Barciela
3 , Rafael Esteban 1,3 , Francisco Rodriguez-Frias 1,2 ; 1 Centro
de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y
Digestivas, CIBERehd, Barcelona, Spain; 2 Microbiology, Hospital
Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; 3 Hepatology, Hospital Vall d’Hebron,
Barcelona, Spain; 4 Biochemistry, Hospital Vall d’Hebron,
Barcelona, Spain; 5 Liver Diseases, Research Institute of Vall d’Hebron,
Barcelona, Spain
Background The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) genome encodes
two antigens essential for viral cycle, small and large (S- and
L-HDAg). Genomes with a stop codon in position 196 encode
S-HDAg, and with a tryptophan encode L-HDAg. Immune
responses likely play a key role in controlling HDV infection;
but changes occurring in the quasispecies (QS) complexity and
in the percentage of genomes encoding S-HDAg and L-HDAg
in the circulating HDV QS are unknown. Aim Evaluate changes
in the complexity of HDV QS and in the percentage of genomes
encoding S-HDAg and L-HDAg during long-term chronic HDV
infection. Patient and methods Twelve consecutive serum samples
from a patient with chronic HDV followed for 12 years
were included. The patient was HDV genotype 1, HBeAg-negative,
and HBV-DNA levels were