title: [Association of HBeAg positivity and alpha fetoprotein level with the prognosis of chronic severe hepatitis B].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association of HBeAg positivity and alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level with the prognosis of chronic severe hepatitis B.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 325 hospitalized patients with chronic severe hepatitis B were analyzed for serum HBeAg positivity and AFP levels and their association with the prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of all the 325 patients, 168 (51.7%) were HBeAg-positive and 157 (48.3%) were HBeAg-negative, and the two groups showed no significant difference in gender distribution, average peak value of total bilirubin and average trough prothrombin activity. Compared with the positive patients, the HBeAg-negative patients had significantly older age (P < 0.001), higher rate of liver cirrhosis (P < 0.001) and lower response rate (P < 0.05). Elevated AFP level was positively correlated to the response rate in both the HBeAg-positive (P < 0.001) and negative patients (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HBeAg-negative patients with chronic severe hepatitis B have poorer prognosis than the HBeAg-positive patients, and higher AFP levels are associated with more favorable prognosis regardless of the HBeAg positivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. pjie@fimmu.com
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ya-bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jin-lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins