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Although 95% of adult-acquired hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are spontaneously cleared, approximately 90% of neonates exposed to HBV develop chronic infection. The reason for such a marked age-related difference in immune response to the virus has remained unclear, but investigators in Taiwan and mainland China have now found evidence that — at least in mice — the gut microbiota plays a major role.
Using a nontransgenic hydrodynamic transfection mouse model and multiple inbred mouse strains, the researchers found that although the ability to clear HBV infection varied among the strains, 80% of young C3H/HeN mice developed chronic infection whereas adult C3H/HeN animals cleared infection in 5 weeks. Further studies showed a substantial d…