Viral polymorphisms associated with increased viral load in HBeAg negative phase and progression to HCC and/or liver cirrhosis (LC) by HBV subgenotypes.

HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; NA, not applicable; Nt, nucleotide; Pol, polymerase; RT, reverse transcriptase; S, surface.aR, A/G heteroduplex; K, T/G heteroduplex; Y, C/T heteroduplex; W, A/T heteroduplex; M, A/C heteroduplex; D, A/G/T heteroduplex. del: deletions involved in risk for disease progression range in size from 1 to 1049 nucleotides (Figure S3).bResults were derived from a linear mixed model adjusting for age.cOdds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were mutually adjusted for age, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and the BCP double mutations, except for ORs in the HBV subgenotype Ce group.d26 subjects with Ba subgenotype did not participate in follow-up ultrasonography examination.eP = 0.0002 derived from Fisher’s exact test for comparison between HCC cases and non-HCC controls.