Pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus infection

Table 1 HBV variants and their potential impact for pathogenesis of HBV infection

HBV region	Mutation	Molecular phenotype	Clinical relevance
Pre-S/S	Pre-S1/ pre-S2/	Misassembly	Fibrosing cholestatic
	S-promotor		hepatitis
	S	Alteration of B- and	Vaccine escape
	S splicing	T-cell epitopes	Immune escape Diagnostic escape
Pre-C	Pre-C-stop	Loss of HBeAg	Severe hepatitis HBeAg-deficiency
Core	Core	Alteration of T-cell epitopes	Viral persistence Severe hepatitis
RT/Pol	Pol	Replication deficiency	Viral latency Viral latency Pol
	Resistance to antivirals	Therapy escape
Regulatory Core promotor Elements		Enhanced replication and core expression Decreased HBeAg synthesis	Severe hepatitis Modulation of drug resistance HBeAg seronegativity
	Enhancer I	Decreased replication	Chronic hepatitis

HBV genomic region, mutation, molecular phenotype and clinical relevance are indicated.