Demographic and Virologic Characteristics of Individuals and Sera.

Abbreviations: VP = viral particles, virion; SVP = subviral HBsAg particles; IU = International Units; ng = nanograms; ALT = serum alanine amino trasferase.Quantitative values for VP and SVP were obtained as previously reported [14]–[15]: 1 IU of HBsAg corresponds to 1,1E+06 IU HBV DNA and1 ng of HBsAg corresponds to 2,08E+08 SVP or 5,0E+07 VP.HBV infection and disease phases were characterized as previuosly reported [8]: IC = Inactive HBsAg Carriers with serum HBV-DNA persistently below 2000 IU and without liver disease; AC1 = Active HBsAg Carriers with serum HBV-DNA fluctuating below 20.000 IU with normal liver histology; AC2 = Active HBsAg carriers with serum HBV-DNA fluctuating above 20.000 IU with chronic active hepatitis at histology, patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).