Serum HBV core-related antigen is a good predictor for spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B patients

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• 作者：Guangjun Song ; Ruifeng Yang ; Huiying Rao ; Bo Feng ; Hui Ma ; Qian Jin and Lai Wei
• 刊名：Journal of Medical Virology
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：89
• 期：3
• 页码：463-468
• 全文大小：203K
• ISSN：1096-9071

文摘

Early prediction of spontaneous hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion is pivotal in the prevention of unnecessary drug prescription, corresponding financial burden, and adverse reactions. One hundred and thirteen chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg-positive in the immune active phase were followed up for about 1.5 years. Patients were classified into two groups: spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion group (group A, n = 18) and non-spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion group. Among the non-spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion group, 35 patients were selected as controls (group B, n = 35). At week 12, there was a significant difference in hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) levels between the two groups (group A 4.32 ± 1.05 log₁₀ kU/ml, and group B 5.16 ± 0.53 log₁₀ kU/ml, P = 0.004), and this significance magnified at week 28. Only two variables, HBcrAg level and the reduction in the HBcrAg levels (ΔHBcrAg) at week 28 were enrolled, with the odds ratio of 4.19 and 0.21, respectively. The optimal cutoffs of HBcrAg levels and the ΔHBcrAg at week 28 were 4.90 and 2.00 log₁₀ kU/ml, respectively. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of HBcrAg levels at week 28 were 73.9% and 96.7%, respectively. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the ΔHBcrAg at week 28 were 76.2% and 93.8%, respectively. The measurement of HBcrAg is useful for monitoring the natural course of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. The dynamics of HBcrAg levels could accurately predict the spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion. J. Med. Virol. 89:463–468, 2017.