Comparison of hepatitis B surface antigen and e antigen in predicting liver histology in hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels and liver histology in HBeAg-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection.

METHODS

Serum HBsAg and HBeAg levels were analyzed, and liver biopsies were obtained from 203 HBeAg-positive CHB patients (62.6 % males; median age 31.3 years). The upper limit of normal (ULN) for ALT in this study was 30 and 19 U/L for males and females, respectively. Histologic assessment was based on Scheuer classification.

RESULTS

ALT <2 × ULN, fibrosis stage <S2, and necro-inflammation grade <G2 were noted in 70 (34.5 %), 141 (69.5 %), and 105 (51.7 %) patients, respectively. Patients with significant histology (fibrosis stage ≥S2 and/or fibrosis stage of 1 plus inflammation grade ≥2) had significantly lower median HBsAg (13,998.4 and 42,186.5 IU/mL, respectively, p < 0.001) and HBeAg levels (540.5 and 1,206.8 S/CO, respectively, p < 0.001) than patients with insignificant histology. Among patients with ALT <2 × ULN, the area under the ROC curve for serum HBsAg and HBeAg levels was 0.76 and 0.70, respectively. Using a cutoff value of 17,558 IU/mL for HBsAg and 875.6 S/CO for HBeAg in patients with ALT <2×ULN, positive predictive values for insignificant histology were 87 and 86.8 %, respectively, whereas the negative predictive values were 50 and 47.1 %, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Among HBeAg-positive patients with ALT <2 × ULN, high-serum HBsAg and HBeAg levels can equally accurately predict insignificant histology.