title: Pathogenic role of hepatitis B virus in hepatitis B surface antigen-negative decompensated cirrhosis.
abstract: This study was conducted to determine the rate of detection of serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative decompensated cirrhotic patients who had hepatitis B core and/or surface antibodies (anti-HBc and/or anti-HBs), and to compare the outcome of HBsAg-positive cirrhotic patients who did or did not clear HBsAg during follow-up. Six (5%) of 121 HBsAg-positive cirrhotic patients lost HBsAg after 0.2 to 17.1 years (mean, 9.1 +/- 6.2 yr) of follow-up. The cumulative rates of loss of HBsAg at 1, 5, 10, and 15 years were, respectively, 1.3%, 1.3%, 7.4%, and 44.5%. Compared with the patients who remained HBsAg-positive, those who lost HBsAg had milder disease at presentation and significantly longer survival. Of the patients who lost HBsAg, 83% had improvement in liver function after the loss of HBsAg, and all were alive at the time of writing (0.8 to 5.7 years after loss of HBsAg), whereas 27% of those who remained HBsAg-positive had died and 29% had deterioration in liver function. The rate of detection of serum HBV DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was higher in HBsAg-positive cirrhotic patients who lost HBsAg:67% versus cirrhotic patients who had no previous history of chronic HBV infection; 16% (cryptogenic) and 29% (hepatitis C virus and/or alcohol-induced liver disease). In summary, we found that using PCR, serum HBV DNA can be detected in 28% of HBsAg-negative cirrhotic patients who were studied, but the pathogenic significance of such small amounts of virus is not clear.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Lok
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens