title: [Clinical significance of intrahepatic hepatitis B core antigen (+) in patients with chronic hepatitis B].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to assess the clinical significance of intrahepatic hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) (+) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
  
  
  METHODS
  200 CHB patients were prospectively studied using fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR), combined PCR with fluorescence probe hybridization technique, to determine serum HBV DNA. Serum HBeAg was measured quantitatively. Liver biopsies were performed and immunohistochemistry stained liver slides were examined in all the cases. Correlation analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the HBV DNA levels, the patients were divided into 5 groups: group A (<3 log10 copies/ml) n=20, group B (>or=3 log10 copies/ml-<5 log10 copies/ml) n=13, group C (>or=5 log10 copies/ml-<6 log10 copies/ml) n=24, group D (>or=6 log10 copies/ml-<8 log10 copies/ml) n=116, and group E (>or=8 log10 copies/ml) n=27, and 87.5% of the CHB patients were intrahepatic HBcAg (+). The rate of HBcAg (+) was 55.0% (11/20) in group A, 53.8% (7/13) in group B, 75.0% (19/24) in group C, 96.6% (112/116) in group D, and 100% (27/27) in group E. A strong correlation was found between the rate of HBcAg (+) and the level of serum HBV DNA (r=0.80). This type of association also appeared between serum HBV DNA levels and HBeAg (+) (r=0.47). Of 20 CHB patients who were serum HBV DNA negative, 25% (5) were HBeAg (+), and 55% (11) were HBcAg (+), whereas 15 patients were both HBV DNA (-) and HBeAg (-), and 46.7% (7) were HBcAg (+).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intrahepatic HBcAg (+) in CHB patients might be more reliable in reflecting HBV replication. Determination of HBcAg (+) may have clinical significance for evaluating the efficacy of antiviral therapy and for predicting the therapeutic responses to different antiviral agents.
authors: The Sixth People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China. panhongying@sohu.com
authors: Hong-ying
authors: HY
authors: Pan
authors: Yong-le
authors: YL
authors: Zhang
authors: Cui-rong
authors: CR
authors: Chen
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Bing-ru
authors: BR
authors: Li
authors: De-rong
authors: DR
authors: Lu
authors: Guo-qiang
authors: GQ
authors: Lou
authors: Jun-ping
authors: JP
authors: Shi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D014779:Virus Replication; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens