Sera of Individuals Chronically Infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Contain Diverse RNA Types Produced by HBV Replication or Derived from Integrated HBV DNA

The presence of integrant-derived RNAs (id-RNAs) and 5′-human-HBV-3′ transcripts derived from integrated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in sera was demonstrated for the first time. Thus, sera of individuals chronically infected with HBV contained both replication-derived and integrant-transcribed HBV RNAs.