HBV Drug Resistance Assay Test Cost & Procedure

What does the hepatitis B virus' medication resistance entail?

Signature mutations in the reverse transcriptase regions of the viral polymerase gene are present in drug-resistant strains of HBV (Table 1). Resistant mutations change how the medicine and HBV polymerase interact, interfering with the drug's ability to inhibit viral polymerase.

The hepatitis B virus, also referred to as hepatitis B, can be detected through a test for medication resistance and genotyping (HBV). These mutations might result in drug resistance to telbivudine, entecavir, adefovir, lamivudine, and tenofovir, among other medications.

A serious liver infection called hepatitis B is brought on by HBV. If this infection persists, there may be a higher chance of developing liver problems like cancer, cirrhosis, and liver failure. Vaccines are typically administered to prevent this disorder. Unfortunately, if a patient acquires hepatitis B, there is no known cure.

Causes

It is an infection that has a variety of potential causes. Here are a few of these:

• Having unprotected sex with an infected person, especially during sexual contact
• Inherited, spreading from the sick mother to the foetus at birth
• utilising the sample needles on several individuals due to the risk of blood-borne infection from these needles and syringes
• Healthcare professionals who frequently come into touch with human blood are also more likely to contract hepatitis B.

A doctor can determine why specific anti-viral medications like lamivudine are ineffective for treatment by doing a test for drug resistance and genotyping of the hepatitis B virus. The test is used following the start of hepatitis B treatment due to its nature. It is additionally used to establish the mutation's kind.

Procedure and method

A clinical lab technician does the common blood test. After being frozen, this sample is sent for analysis to see if any mutations exist.

Result

In the event that the test is conducted on contaminated species or incorrect specimens, the results could be paradoxical. The results might also be impacted by the existence of inherent PCR inhibitors.

Moreover, the outcomes may be unfavourable if

• The HBV burden is under 5000 copies per millilitre.
• HBV sequence divergence is present and prevents amplification.
• There is no HBV infection.