Lower mutation frequency of BCP/precore regions in e antigen-negative chronic HBV-infected children instead of adults patients

To describe the Hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg) seroconversion related mutation profiles of the basal core promoter(BCP)/precore regions in e antigen seroconverted child patients, a cohort of 245 child patients with CHB and a control patients group of 92 adult patients with CHB were recruited. The mutation frequencies of six nucleotides or nucleotide combinations including nucleotide (nt)1896, nt1762/1764, nt1752, nt1846, nt1899 and nt1753 showed significant differences between HBeAg positive and HBeAg-negative child patients groups. The frequencies of these HBeAg seroconversion-related mutations were significantly lower in HBeAg-negative children with CHB than in HBeAg-negative adults with CHB, especially for the mutation G1896A (41.1% vs 91.7%, P