Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China (mainland).
Department of Clinical Laboratory, The 117th Hospital of PLA, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (mainland).
Med Sci Monit. 2018 Mar 29;24:1826-1835. doi: 10.12659/msm.905445.
BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of individuals with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection with persistent low levels of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and to undertake a correlation analysis of the clinical characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 1,204 subjects with chronic HBV infection. Serum HBsAg, HBV envelope antigen (HBeAg), and HBV core antigen (HBcAg) levels were measured using the chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) and the neutralization test. HBV DNA was measured using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-FQ-PCR). RESULTS There were 1,023 subjects in the high-level HBsAg group (HBsAg level ≥10 IU/mL) and 181 subjects in the low-level HBsAg group (HBsAg level <10 IU/mL). In the low-level HBsAg group, the main serological pattern (93.37%) was HBsAg and HBeAg and HBcAg-positive (HBV-M2), and the asymptomatic carrier (ASC) status was 98.34%. The low-level HBsAg group had a lower HBV DNA-positive rate compared with the high-level HBsAg group (40.33% vs. 75.07%), with a normal distribution across all age groups (P>0.05). The low-level HBsAg group included an older age group. A low-level of HBsAg was positively correlated with a low level of replication of HBV DNA (r=0.452). CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study showed that individuals with chronic HBV infection and sustained low-levels of HBsAg were an older population and had a lower level of replicating HBV DNA when compared with individuals with high levels of HBsAg, and the majority (93.7%) were also HBsAg and HBeAg and HBcAg-positive.
本研究旨在探讨慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染者中持续低水平乙型肝炎表面抗原（HBsAg）的临床特征，并进行相关性分析。
本研究纳入了 1204 例慢性 HBV 感染者。采用化学发光微粒子免疫分析法（CMIA）和中和试验检测血清 HBsAg、HBV 包膜抗原（HBeAg）和 HBV 核心抗原（HBcAg）水平，采用实时荧光定量聚合酶链反应（RT-FQ-PCR）检测 HBV DNA。
高 HBsAg 组（HBsAg 水平≥10IU/mL）有 1023 例，低 HBsAg 组（HBsAg 水平<10IU/mL）有 181 例。低 HBsAg 组主要血清学模式（93.37%）为 HBsAg 和 HBeAg 及 HBcAg 阳性（HBV-M2），无症状携带者（ASC）状态占 98.34%。与高 HBsAg 组相比，低 HBsAg 组 HBV DNA 阳性率较低（40.33% vs. 75.07%），各年龄段分布均匀（P>0.05）。低 HBsAg 组年龄较大。低 HBsAg 与 HBV DNA 低复制呈正相关（r=0.452）。
本研究发现，慢性 HBV 感染者持续低水平 HBsAg 为老年人群，与高水平 HBsAg 感染者相比，HBV DNA 复制水平较低，且大多数（93.7%）为 HBsAg、HBeAg 和 HBcAg 阳性。
