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Occult HBV infection
Seminars in Immunopathology , 08/01/2012
Raimondo G et al. – Evidence suggests that occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) can favor the progression of liver fibrosis, in particular in HCV–infected patients. The possible contribution of OBI to the establishment of cirrhosis also implies its possible indirect role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. On the other hand, OBI may maintain most of the direct transforming properties of the overt HBV infection, such as the capacity to integrate in the host’s genome and to synthesize pro–oncogenic proteins.
