Hepatitis B virus: Pathogenesis and host immune response

Hepatitis B virus causes chronic infection in about 300 million of people worldwide and results in about one million deaths a year, because of virus-induced end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Mechanisms from acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection progress into chronicity, repeated bouts of inflammations were reviewed, with emphasis on the unusual modest innate immune responses against the virus. Chronic inflammation paves the way for malignant transformation of the infected hepatocytes. Recent studies in human and animal liver cancer models identify major genetic alteration pathways leading to carcinogenesis. A better understanding of HBV persistence and carcinogenesis will provide new insights for more effective interventions to control chronic hepatitis B and its sequelae in the future. ? 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York. All rights are reserved.