Abstract: However, in comparison to three other variants (FH_T1766C, FH
_A1768T and FH
_T1766C/
A1768T) with wild-type nucleotide(s) at 1766 and/or 1768, the
FH genome exhibited a 2.5-5-fold enhancement of viral replication by heightened pregenomic RNA synthesis and a 1.5-2.5-fold reduction in the hepatitis B
e antigen (
HBeAg) synthesis by the downregulation of the
precore mRNA level.