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Background: Selection of drug-resistant strains may lead to failure of HBV antiviral therapy. There is little information whether there is detection difference in drug resistant mutations between different viral load assays of HBV. Objectives: This study is aimed to investigate whether there is drug-resistant strains related detection difference between Abbott RealTime HBV (RealTime) and CobasAmpliPrep/CobasTaqMan HBV assays 2.0 (TaqMan). Study Design: One hundred and thirty-four CHB patients who received HBV anti-viral therapy were enrolled. HBV virological markers were tested 3 months apart regularly. Serum HBV DNA levels were determined using the TaqMan and RealTime. YMDD (rt180M and rt204V) mutation was checked in patients who experienced virologic breakthrough (VBT). Results: The correlation of HBV DNA observed between the RealTime and TaqMan was good for all 571 samples (R2 = 0.797; P<0.001). However, the correlation in the 434 samples with HBV DNA level <3 log10 IU/ml was not as good as in all samples (R2 = 0.457). Overall, 21.5% of samples had a detection difference of ≥1 log10 IU/ml with 91.9% of these having HBV DNA level <3 log10 IU/ml. Twenty-four patients experiencedVBT. Three of these patients had acquired the YMDD mutation and exhibited discordant viral load results between the two methods tested. In each case, persistent HBV DNA was detected by RealTime and undetectable with TaqMan. Of the patients who experienced a VBT and had acquired YMDD mutation, 4.7% had undetectable HBV DNA by TaqMan while all were detectable with RealTime. Conclusions: RealTime assay is more sensitive and is little impacted by the development of drug resistant mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Tinnitus and dizziness are common among the elderly. The conditions may increase depression, and patients may become susceptible to falls, thereby affecting the quality of life of the geriatric population. Investigating the prevalence of persistent tinnitus and chronic/recurrent dizziness in an elderly population and analyzing the association of certain comorbidities with tinnitus and dizziness in southern Taiwan were the main purposes of this study., Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed in a metropolitan hospital. Hearing tests were conducted in a total of 597 volunteers aged ≥65 years involving 322 (53.9%) men and 275 (46.1%) women recruited in the study. The pure tone average (PTA) and hearing handicap (HH) score were calculated. Patients completed questionnaires regarding the history of hypertension and diabetes and symptoms of tinnitus and dizziness. The association of gender, age, PTA/HH, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) with tinnitus and dizziness were analyzed., Results: The prevalence of persistent tinnitus and chronic/recurrent dizziness was 32.0% and 24.1%, respectively. Tinnitus or dizziness were not associated with age, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, and MetS but was associated with hearing impairment. Women and those with fasting glucose levels <100 mg/dL were more likely to experience dizziness., Conclusion: Persistent tinnitus and dizziness were common in an elderly population in southern Taiwan. These findings may help develop strategies to promote the quality of life in the elderly population.

Objectives: Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is a major disability among the elderly. This study aimed to analyze the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (GRM7) gene with ARHI in an elderly population in Taiwan., Materials and Methods: This was a community-based study performed in a metropolitan hospital. Participants ≥65 years of age were recruited. Participants with a pure tone average (PTA) of speech frequencies in the better ear of >35 decibel hearing level (dBHL) were classified into the case group, whereas those with PTA ≤25 dBHL were classified into the control group. The association of SNPs rs11928865, rs1353828, rs9814809, and rs9880404 with ARHI was analyzed., Results: In 106 cases and 190 controls, alleles of all SNPs were found not to be associated with ARHI. The genotype of rs9880404 was found to be associated with ARHI in a dominant pattern, but the genotypes of rs11928865, rs1353828, and rs9814809 were found not to be associated with ARHI., Conclusion: GRM7 SNPs are associated with susceptibility to ARHI, but the significance of this finding in a Taiwanese population differed from that observed in European studies. Further studies may help to determine Taiwanese (Asian)-specific SNPs associated with ARHI.