Correlation of quantitative assay of HBsAg and HBV DNA levels during chronic HBV treatment.
OBJECTIVE
Viral load is used for the diagnosis and monitoring the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). These methods are molecular-based and are expensive. Previous studies suggest that quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) studied by automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay can be a surrogate marker. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether quantitative HBsAg correlates hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels during CHB treatment.


METHODS
The study included 18 patients (13 male, 5 female, mean age: 33 +/- 9 years) with CHB. They were given pegylated interferon +/- lamivudine for 52 months and serum samples were obtained in weeks 0, 4, 8, 24, 48, 52, and 76. HBV DNA was measured by TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR; Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands). Quantitative HBsAg was studied by automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (Architect HBsAg, Abbott, IL). Results HBV DNA levels were measured as follows: 9.66, 7.69, 7.06, 5.93, 5.89, 5.88, and 7.27 logarithmic genome equivalent/ml, respectively. The corresponding HBsAg quantitation results were 42,888, 31,176, 37,882, 27,277, 28,279, 29,471, and 31,535 IU/ml, respectively. They showed a significant correlation (canonical correlation = 0.85).


CONCLUSIONS
HBsAg studied by automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay correlates with HBV DNA and can be a surrogate marker during the monitoring of the efficacy of HBV treatment.
Ozaras
Resat
R
Department of Infectious Diseases, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, 34098, Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey. rozaras@yahoo.com
Tabak
Fehmi
F
Tahan
Veysel
V
Ozturk
Recep
R
Akin
Hakan
H
Mert
Ali
A
Senturk
Hakan
H
D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019562:Viral Load
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019259:Lamivudine; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C417083:peginterferon alfa-2b