title: [Intrahepatic hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA correlation with serum HBV DNA, serum HBsAg, alanine aminotransferase and age].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the correlation between intrahepatic eovalently closed circular (ccc)DNA of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and pathogen-and patient-related parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ultrasound-guided liver biopsies were obtained from 60 patients with chronic HBV infection. Levels of intrahepatic HBV cccDNA and serum HBV DNA were measured by quantitative fluorescence PCR. Level of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Clinical parameters, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), albumin, globulin (GLO), white blood cell, platelet, prothrombin-international normalized ratio, were measured by standard assay. Demographic information was recorded.The correlation between intrahepatic HBV cccDNA and pathogen-and patient-related parameters was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intrahepatic HBV cccDNA level was negatively correlated with age, GLO, ALT and grade of necroinflammation. Patients with age of 30 years or more showed significantly higher level of HBV cccDNA level than patients under 30 years-old (7.44±0.58 and 5.66±1.35; t=7.157, P less than 0.001). Intrahepatic HBV cccDNA level was positively correlated with serum HBV DNA level (r=0.916, P less than 0.001) and serum HBsAg level (r=0.727, P less than 0.001). The median ratio of HBV cccDNA to HBV DNA was 1.18, and of HBV cccDNA to HBsAg was 1.67.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intrahepatic HBV cccDNA levels decrease with age, level of ALT, level of GLO and grade of liver necroinflammation, but increase with level of serum HBV DNA and level of serum HBsAg. To a certain extent, serum HBV DNA and serum HBsAg levels may be a sufficient marker of intrahepatic HBV cccDNA levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China.
authors.forename: Qinxiu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yafei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiangxang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiabin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shengtao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D015415:Biomarkers; D004270:DNA, Circular; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006515:Hepatitis B virus; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic; D006801:Humans; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004270:DNA, Circular; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase