Clearance rates of circulating HBV particles strongly correlate with viremia in chronic hepatitis B infection

Introduction: Determination of clearance kinetics by using mathematical models may disclose new aspects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and host response mechanisms. Aim of this study was to analyze steady-state levels of viral loads in treatment naïve patients in different phases of chronic infection to estimate half-life of circulating virions. Methods: We applied mathematical modelling to real-time PCR assays which enable quantification of viremia and intrahepatic HBV productivity (rcDNA/cccDNA) in the liver of 80 untreated HBV chronically active carriers (38 HBeAg-positive and 42 HBeAg-negative individu…