HBsAg quantitative value in different stages of hepatitis B virus infection and its correlations with serum HBV DNA and age

Objective To investigate the baseline HBsAg quantification of different phases of hepatitis B virus infection without antiviral treatment and the relationships of HBsAg with HBV DNA and age.Methods Five hundred and sixty-four HBV-infected patients without accepting antiviral therapy were divided into 6 groups according to the phase of HBV-infection: chronic HBV-carrier(65 patients),inactive HBsAg carrier(164 patients),HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B(171 patients),HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B(74 patients),HBeAg-positive hepatitis B liver cirrhosis(42 patients)and HBeAg-negative hepatitis B liver cirrhosis(48 patients).Serum HBsAg was quantified using the Abbott ARCHITECT platform and HBV DNA by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method.Results The HBsAg median levels in groups of chronic HBV-carrier,HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B,HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B,inactive HBsAg carrier,HBeAg-negative hepatitis B liver cirrhosis and HBeAg-positive hepatitis B liver cirrhosis were 4.71(3.71-5.31),4.04(2.45-5.22),3.50(2.68-4.43),3.34(1.38-4.37),3.25(1.85-3.88) and 3.15(2.51-3.92) lgIU/mL,respectively.Statistical difference of HBsAg was found among the 6 groups(χ2=263.0,P0.001).HBsAg quantification(excepting inactive HBsAg carrier) was positively correlated with HBV DNA(r=0.719,P0.001).Negative correlation was found between HBsAg and age(r=-0.397,P0.001).In patients older than 40 years,HBsAg quantification was statistically different between inactive HBsAg carrier group and HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B group(3.14/3.53 lgIU/mL,P0.001),and the cut-off value was 3.29 lgIU/mL.Conclusion HBsAg quantification is distributed differently in the different phases of HBV-infection.Serum HBsAg is correlated with HBV DNA and age.HBsAg quantitative value is an important indicator to predict whether the inactive HBsAg carriers develop to the HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B.