Relationship of HBsAg subtypes with HBeAg/anti-HBe status and chronic liver disease. Part II: Evaluation of epidemiological factors and suspected risk factors of liver dysfunction.

In this study, we examined a possibility that epidemiological factors or suspected risk factors of liver dysfunction could account for the different HBeAg/anti-HBe status or the different prevalence of liver dysfunction between the adr and adw carriers. A total of 428 HBsAg carriers were surveyed of their age, sex, racial background, socioeconomic status, place of residence, birthplace, alcohol consumption, smoking habit, and history of blood transfusion as epidemiological factors or suspected risk factors of liver dysfunction. Adjustment for those variables using multivariate analyses did not substantially affect the association of the HBsAg subtypes with either prevalence of liver dysfunction or HBeAg/anti-HBe status. HBsAg subtypes seem to directly affect HBeAg/anti-HBe status and consequently influence development of chronic liver disease.