Clinical studies on hepatitis B, C, and E virus infection

Chronic viral hepatitis is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality. This thesis describes clinical aspects of hepatitis B, C, and E virus infection. Part I focuses on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This part describes immune responses of patients with acute HBV-infection, interferon-y-inducible-protein-10 (IP-10) as a marker for immune activation and response to interferon-based treatment in patients with chronic HBV infection, and treatment for patients with chronic HBV infection with low viral load with a combination of peginterferon and a nucleo(s)tide analogue. Part II focuses on hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, particularly on treatment-related topics, such as IP-10 as a response marker for interferon-based therapy, treatment of patients with chronic HCV infection with direct acting antiviral agents (DAAs), and an attempt to predict the effect of different treatment approaches (in which various hepatitis C patient groups are treated) on the size of the future HCV-viremic population and HCV-related disease burden. Part III is focused on hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. This part describes the prevalence of chronic HEV infection among allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients, and its possible relation with graft versus host disease.