Butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has several therapeutic applications, including cancer. However, the effect of butyrate in HBV replication is not known so far. It was hypothesized that butyrate might inhibit HBV replication and host cell proliferation via SIRT-1. It was found that the increased expression of SIRT-1 in Hep G2.2.15 cells (HBV expressing cells) than Hep G2 cells. Next the expression of SIRT-1 and Acetylated p53 (Ac-p53) were measured in the liver biopsy samples of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with high viral load and compared to CHB patients with low viral load and found that there was a high SIRT-1 expression and a low Ac-p53 levels in CHB patients with high viral load compared to CHB patients with low viral load. Incubation of butyrate inhibited SIRT-1 expression and cell proliferation. Inhibition of SIRT-1 by butyrate or SIRT-1 siRNA increased the levels of Ac-p53. The elevated Ac-p53 decreased p-akt, cyclin D1, and thereby inhibited cell proliferation. Incubation of butyrate with Hep G2.2.15 cells also inhibited HBx protein expression, HBV-DNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Taken together, the data showed that butyrate inhibited HBV replication and cell proliferation by inhibiting SIRT-1 expression in hepatoma cells. K E Y W O R D S anti-viral, butyrate, HBV, p53, replication, SIRT-1 1 | INTRODUCTION Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a small double stranded-DNA virus, and its infection is a major health problem worldwide. 1 HBV infection is responsible for chronic liver inflammation (hepatitis), which further progresses to liver cirrhosis and liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 2 The control of HBV replication is one of the most significant approaches to reduce the chronic HBV infection-linked pathogenicity. To date, there is no treatment available which can completely eradicate HBV infection in the patients. Few chemotherapeutic drugs such as, adefovir, entecavir, lamivudine, and telbivudine target the HBV-DNA polymerase and can reduce the viral replication. 3,4 However, long-term use of these drugs might lead to the increase the viral drug-resistance. 4Recently, use of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) along with the analogues of nucleotide/nucleoside significantly minimized the HBV infection and replication in the HBV infected patients. 5,6 Nevertheless, long-term use of IFN-α and nucleotide/nucleoside therapy tends to develop the drug resistance and causes some side effects in the patients. 7,8 Therefore, there is a need for a potential therapy or the targeted drugs for the anti-HBV therapeutics.SIRT-1 or Sirtuin-1 is a class III histone deacetylase (HDAC), which can deactivate histones or many non-histone proteins including p53, NF-κB, AP-1, and PGC-1α. SIRT-1 modulates several cellular processes such as apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, aging, and gene silencing. 9-11 SIRT-1 is also known to induce HBV replication. 12 SIRT-1 inducer resveratrol had been shown to influence the HBV