title: Quantitative hepatitis B core antibody levels in the natural history of hepatitis B virus infection.
abstract: We previously demonstrated that pretreatment quantitative anti-hepatitis B core protein (qAnti-HBc) levels can predict the treatment response for both interferon and nucleoside analogue therapy, but the characteristics of qAnti-HBc during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remain poorly understood. To understand this issue, the qAnti-HBc levels were evaluated in individuals with past HBV infection, occult HBV infection and chronic HBV infection in the immune tolerance phase, immune clearance phase, low-replicative phase and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative hepatitis phase. Individuals with hepatitis B surface antigen (n = 598, 3.74 ± 0.90 log10 IU/mL) had significantly higher (p < 0.001, approximately 1000-fold) serum qAnti-HBc levels than those who had occult HBV, and serum qAnti-HBc levels were significantly higher in the occult HBV group than in the past HBV infection group (p < 0.001). qAnti-HBc levels were positively correlated with alanine aminotransferase levels (R = 0.663, p < 0.001), and subjects with an abnormal alanine aminotransferase level had a higher qAnti-HBc level (p < 0.001). Serum qAnti-HBc level varied in different phases of HBV infection, as determined by host immune status. Serum qAnti-HBc level is strongly associated with hepatitis activity in subjects with chronic HBV infection.
authors: National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen, China.
authors: L-W
authors: LW
authors: Song
authors: Zhongshan Hospital, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
authors: P-G
authors: PG
authors: Liu
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: C-J
authors: CJ
authors: Liu
authors: National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen, China.
authors: T-Y
authors: TY
authors: Zhang
authors: Center of Clinical Laboratory Medicine of PLA, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors: X-D
authors: XD
authors: Cheng
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: H-L
authors: HL
authors: Wu
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: H-C
authors: HC
authors: Yang
authors: Center of Clinical Laboratory Medicine of PLA, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors: X-K
authors: XK
authors: Hao
authors: National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen, China; School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Electronic address: yuanquan@xmu.edu.cn.
authors: Q
authors: Q
authors: Yuan
authors: National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen, China; School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: J-H
authors: JH
authors: Kao
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: D-S
authors: DS
authors: Chen
authors: National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: peijerchen@ntu.edu.tw.
authors: P-J
authors: PJ
authors: Chen
authors: National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen, China; School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Electronic address: nsxia@xmu.edu.cn.
authors: N-S
authors: NS
authors: Xia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
keywords: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB); hepatitis activity; host immune status; natural history of CHB; quantitative anti-HBc