Occult hepatitis B virus (OBI) infection is defined by the presence of viral DNA in the liver and/or serum in absence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). While multiple studies have identified mutations that are associated with OBI, only a small portion of these mutations have been functionally characterized in vitro. Using complementary in silico approaches, the effects of OBI-associated amino acid mutations on HBV protein function in HBV/HIV-positive ART-naïve South Africans were evaluated. Two OBI-associated mutations in the PreS1 region, one in the PreS2 region, and seven in the surface region of subgenotype A1 sequences were identified as deleterious. In subgenotype A2 sequences, 11 OBI-associated mutations in the PreS1 region, seven in the PreS2 region, and 31 in the surface region were identified as deleterious. In the polymerase region, 14 OBI-associated mutations in subgenotype A1 and 71 OBI-associated mutations in subgenotype A2 were identified as deleterious. This study utilized in silico approaches to characterize the likely impact of OBI-associated mutations on viral function, thereby identifying and prioritizing candidates and reducing the significant cost associated with functional studies that are essential for mechanistic studies of the OBI phenotype.

中文翻译：

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与南非隐匿性乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 感染相关的突变的计算机分析。

隐匿性乙型肝炎病毒 (OBI) 感染定义为在没有乙型肝炎表面抗原 (HBsAg) 的情况下，肝脏和/或血清中存在病毒 DNA。虽然多项研究已经确定了与 OBI 相关的突变，但这些突变中只有一小部分在体外进行了功能表征。使用互补的计算机方法，评估了 OBI 相关氨基酸突变对 HBV/HIV 阳性、未接受过 ART 的南非人的 HBV 蛋白功能的影响。PreS1 区域中的两个 OBI 相关突变、PreS2 区域中的一个和亚基因型 A1 序列表面区域中的七个被鉴定为有害。在亚基因型 A2 序列中，PreS1 区域中的 11 个 OBI 相关突变、PreS2 区域中的 7 个和表面区域中的 31 个被鉴定为有害。在聚合酶区域，亚基因型 A1 中的 14 个 OBI 相关突变和亚基因型 A2 中的 71 个 OBI 相关突变被鉴定为有害。该研究利用计算机方法来表征 OBI 相关突变对病毒功能的可能影响，从而确定和优先考虑候选者，并降低与对 OBI 表型的机械研究至关重要的功能研究相关的显着成本。