Is the course of perinatal hepatitis B virus infection influenced by genetic heterogeneity of the virus?

We studied the relations between genetic heterogeneity of pre‐C region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and outcome of HBV infection in 5 infants with perinatal infection, 3 born to antihepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), and 2 to HBeAg positive mothers. HBV infection developed in the babies at 3–4 months of age, but it resolved with seroconversion to anti‐HBs in infants born to anti‐HBe positive mothers, while the infection became chronic in the 2 babies born to HBeAg positive mothers. HBV‐DNA extracted from the first hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive serum sample of each baby was amplified and directly sequenced for the pre‐core region. HBV‐DNA sequences from 3 babies born to anti‐HBe positive mothers showed at position 1896 the contemporary presence of 2 nucleotides (G + A), indicating a mixture of wild‐type and "e minus"variant HBV. These findings suggest a possible co‐transmission of the 2 viruses from anti‐HBe positive mothers to newborns. HBV‐DNA from babies born to HBeAg positive mothers showed wild‐type sequences only. The results of this study suggest that the outcome of HBV infection in newborns depends not only on the host's immunocompetence and on viremia level in maternal blood, but also on heterogeneity of HBV. Transmission of mixed HBV populations appears associated with an early immunoelimination of the virus, while infection with wild‐type HBV alone contributes to induction of chronicity. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.