Affiliation:
1. Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences Nagoya Japan
2. Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine Nagoya City University Hospital Nagoya Japan
3. Department of Central Inspection Kumamoto University Kumamoto Japan
4. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Kumamoto University Kumamoto Japan
Abstract
AbstractHepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA and hepatitis B core‐related antigen (HBcrAg) have been reported to reflect the transcriptional activity of covalently closed circular HBV DNA. We retrospectively investigated the proportions of quantifiable serum HBV RNA and immunoassay for total antigen including complex via pretreatment‐hepatitis B core‐related antigen (iTACT‐HBcrAg) in chronic hepatitis B patients negative for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and/or with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. This study included 246 HBeAg‐negative HBV‐infected patients, who comprised 13 with liver cirrhosis (LC, the LC group), 118 chronic hepatitis (CH, the CH group), and 115 inactive carriers (IC, the IC group), and 44 patients with HBsAg seroclearance. iTACT‐HBcrAg and HBV RNA levels were determined using stored serum samples. Higher proportions of the patients had quantifiable iTACT‐HBcrAg than HBV RNA in all groups of HBeAg‐negative patients (iTACT‐HBcrAg: 84.6%, 90.7%, 35.7%, HBV RNA: 23.1%, 26.3%, 14.8%, for the LC, CH, IC groups). With HBsAg seroclearance (HBsAg <0.05 IU/mL), the proportions of quantifiable samples for HBV RNA were also lower than iTACT‐HBcrAg (0% for HBV RNA). Thus, iTACT‐HBcrAg was more often detectable than circulating HBV RNA in this study population. Further long‐term prospective evaluation of iTACT‐HBcrAg is desirable for its utilization in clinical practice.
Funder
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development